FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	
Contact: Media Relations	202-268-2155
December 12, 2003
	www.usps.com

USPS pulls $200K in advertising, while
employees urge FOX to do the right thing
 
So what's the latest on the FOX/Mad TV issue?  

The Postal Service has pulled $200,000 in advertising from 
FOX-TV.  

You're continuing to let FOX and Mad TV know how you feel about a 
planned Saturday night skit that insults postal workers.

John Hegarty, national president of the National Postal Mail 
Handlers Union, wrote to the chairman of FOX Entertainment group, 
objecting to "unfair stereotyping of postal employees" and 
"irresponsible TV shows." Hegarty urges FOX to put this segment 
"in the garbage can where it belongs!"

The mailing industry is involved, too. PostCom, the Association 
for Postal Commerce, wrote to Mad TV, pointing out that "postal 
workers are honest and decent people who make a complex system 
work well," saying the skit's stereotype is "appalling."

"We want FOX to do the right thing for the right reasons," said 
Azeez Jaffer, vice president, Public Affairs and Communications. 
"That's why we need to make our case with the facts - nothing 
else. This is an emotional issue, but we'll gain more ground by 
staying calm and using common sense when we're sharing our 
opinion with FOX or Mad TV." 

We're continuing to receive thousands of your comments about this 
issue. 

"I've never been prouder to be one of the 730,000 men and women 
of the Postal Service who serve our nation with distinction every 
day," said Jaffer.

 One employee made the case with the facts in a heartfelt letter 
to FOX, explaining what "going postal" really means. It's not 
about threats. It's not about violence. "It means that over 
700,000 employees make sure the mail gets delivered every day," 
she wrote. "When Sept. 11 happened, our Post Office in New York 
near ground zero was affected - but your mail was not . . . It 
means that throughout the year - and especially during the 
holidays - postal workers get involved in their communities: 
buying toys for kids, dinners for the hungry, and working with 
countless other charities . . . It means that when your elderly 
neighbor lay helpless on the floor - unable to get to the phone - 
a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier noticed the mail was not 
collected and called police. The result often is that neighbor is 
alive today because a U.S. Postal Service worker cared."

Still have comments? A channel for feedback is the FOX 
Broadcasting Viewer Comment Line at 1-310-369-3066.

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