Dear Editor,Vermont Public Radio is supported by government funded public dollars. Its mandate to serve the general welfare is an issue of public trust. During an election, public media MUST provide information necessary for an informed electorate, with unbiased reporting not available elsewhere. No matter how controversial, the public has the right to consider the issues, and the individuals who raise them, in a public forum. ‘Freedom of Speech’ has been vigorously defended by the press. All the more reason the press must not engage in censorship, especially concerning a federal election. Unfortunately, it is now the expressed policy of VPR to give the false impression that they are including ALL the Democratic President candidates, whom they are profiling on their radio programs and website. This is a conscious lie: they are intentionally excluding Lyndon LaRouche. LaRouche, an FEC approved candidate, recently qualified to receive $840,000.00 of public matching funds as a result of his popular support as the second leading Democratic candidate in terms of individual numbers of contributors. He has visited Vermont, and raised vital matters of national importance to residents and the academic community of Middlebury College. And, he is on the Vermont ballot. Precisely because he is a widely supported controversial figure, LaRouche has even more of a right to be featured on VPR, whose responsibility and deep obligation it is to guard public interest, prevent censorship, and champion freedom of speech. The Secretary of the most populous state in the country, California, automatically included LaRouche, without petitioning, on the ballot in that state. His reason? ‘Everyone knows that Lyndon LaRouche is a Democratic candidate’. Evidently, everyone except VPR President Mark Vogelzang, who did not see any inconsistency in asserting that he is covering ALL the Democratic candidates running for President. In fact, Vogelzang is deliberately refusing to air any mention of LaRouche. Why will he not let the public hear from this candidate? LaRouche has significant support internationally. He has the courage and leadership to tell the truth about the economy, the war, and the state of the world, and as a result, has enraged the institutions of partisan political power, and their puppet masters, whom he is unafraid to mention by name. Of what, or whom, is Mr. Fogelsang afraid, that he would sacrifice his journalistic integrity, (as he has done in refusing to allow the public to hear LaRouche), at a time when his nation needs it the most? In this crisis, when political discourse is asphyxiated by the lack of fresh viewpoints, it is deadly to censor a legitimate FEC approved candidate. It is crucial for the press to report on the blacklisting of this major candidate, and to print the truth. Must the public be the last to be informed about our choice of future leaders? We, the voters, must not allow this to be the case. Please call VPR and speak your mind on their listener opinion hotline-655-9451. Defend freedom of speech!Laurie and Michael DobsonPO Box 531 Dorset, VT 05251802-867-9809