FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	
Contact: Media Relations	202-268-2155
December 10, 2003
	Release No. 098
	www.usps.com

POSTAL OFFICIAL RAPS FOX-TV
FOR SCURRILOUS PROGRAM

WASHINGTON - In an unprecedented move, a senior U.S. Postal Service 
official called upon the nine million employees of the mailing 
industry and the three-quarters of a million employees of the Postal 
Service to contact the head of FOX Entertainment Group to protest the 
scurrilous and abusive depiction of postal workers in a "Mad TV" 
segment set to air Saturday.

In a promo for this coming Mad-TV show, two postal employees are seen 
brandishing guns, talking about a shooting spree as customers cower 
near the floor.

In a reference to the movie "Network" - starring Peter Finch - 
Azeezaly S. Jaffer, Vice President of Public Affairs and 
Communication declared, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take 
it anymore.  For the last year, I've been working hard to 'Set The 
Record Straight' whenever a media outlet takes an unfair swipe at the 
Postal Service or its employees.  And this is unfair.  It's ugly.  
It's untrue.  It's an insult to every man and woman in the Postal 
Service."

Mr. Jaffer issued a special message to employees and reached out to 
its postal partners in the mailing industry advising them of what was 
happening and urging them to contact Sandy Grushow, the Chairman of 
FOX Entertainment Group.

In August 2000, the U.S. Postal Service Commission On A Safe And 
Secure Workplace issued a 249-page report following a two-year study. 
The groundbreaking report includes the most comprehensive survey ever 
conducted of violence in the American workforce and was prepared by 
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia 
University.

As Commission Chairman Joseph A. Califano Jr. noted, "Going postal is 
a myth, a bad rap causing unnecessary apprehension and fear ...This 
report should shatter the myth that postal workers are more violent 
than other workers and discourage the pejorative use of that 
expression."

Mr. Jaffer noted, "It's my guess that they didn't even read it, and 
they probably just gave it a few seconds on their news show."

Mr. Jaffer told employees offended by the promotion of the program, 
"As our holiday commercial says, no one works harder or goes farther 
to keep us all connected for the holidays.  That was true in 2001 
when you were at the front lines in the war on terror.  It was true 
last year.  It's just as true this year.  And this is what we get 
from FOX."

He appealed to employees "to join me in setting the record straight.  
I've never asked for your help before, but I need you with me on this 
one.  Together, we're going to turn the volume up so high that senior 
executives at FOX hear us loud and clear - and pull this insulting 
piece.  Funny's funny.  And this skit isn't.  Let's take the skit - 
and a lump of coal - and stuff it in FOX's Christmas stocking with 
the clear message, "Return to Sender!"

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