[AKA2D '91]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- After more than a month of waiting,
BET finally got an answer from President George W. Bush to a formal
invitation to address African-American voters in his own primetime BET
NIGHTLY NEWS interview on the network. The answer is no.

BET Founder and CEO Robert Johnson first issued invitations to both
President Bush and Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry (D-
Massachusetts) on September 14. He asked each of them to appear on the
network to discuss issues of relevance to BET viewers during this
crucial stretch of the 2004 Presidential Election campaign. Senator Kerry
accepted, and his half-hour interview was televised on October 7. But
according to representatives of the White House, President Bush's current
schedule will not allow time for him to appear on BET, and they asked
that the network approach him again, "after the election."

In response to the Bush decline, Mr. Johnson has sent an open letter to
top African Americans in the Bush Administration -- Secretary of State
Colin Powell, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of
Education Rod Paige, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Alphonso Jackson; along with former Oklahoma Republican Congressman J. C.
Watts, who is leading a grassroots group of African-American Republicans
supporting the Bush re- election effort.

Here is the text of Mr. Johnson's letter to leading African-American
members of the Bush Administration in response to President Bush's
decline of BET's invitation to appear on the network:
On September 14, BET extended invitations to both President George W.
Bush and Senator John Kerry to discuss issues of relevance to African-
American voters in their own primetime interview specials on our
network.
Senator Kerry accepted our invitation within a few days and that
interview special was televised on Thursday, October 7.

To our disappointment and after 35 days of waiting, we were informed
this
week that President Bush will not make room in his schedule to appear
on
BET and share his vision with African-American voters. Contacts with
the
Bush campaign further instructed us to "ask again after the election."

As leading African Americans appointed by President Bush and supportive
of both his policies and his re-election campaign, I urge you to ask
the
President to reconsider. While we have applauded your appointment to
such a key role in the Bush Administration, political appointments are
not enough when it comes to communicating the President's plan of
action
to address issues that African Americans find important.

There is little doubt that African-American voters have the power to
decide the outcome of this election. Our invitations to President Bush
and Senator Kerry were each candidate's chance to show African
Americans
that their issues, opinions and their votes really matter. To decline
this opportunity does not send a very positive signal to African-
Americans with just 14 days left before the election.

We look forward to your response to our request for intervention in
this
matter.

Respectfully,

Robert L. Johnson
Founder and CEO
BET