I am just proud to announce that Coffee & Markets has been chosen as a finalist for a Messenger Award by the Sam Adams Alliancce.

The timing of this announcement is interesting. Today in Washington a major conversation is taking place about the role of NPR, and its status as a taxpayer funded entity. While most talk radio on the right has a harsher tone, the truth is that over a third of NPR’s listenership self-identifies as right of center. It appears that many conservatives and libertarians are willing to tolerate NPR’s leftward voice, as I do, in order to hear high-quality coverage of important issues.

Someday, I hope a center-right alternative exists, online and on the radio, which tackles the issues of the day seriously and thoughtfully. Until it does, we are happy to offer our small entry into this ongoing conversation, which we hope will educate and inform, guiding interested individuals toward a fuller knowledge of liberty and a greater understanding of the world and the marketplace.

Our statement follows:

Posted each morning at BigGovernment and Redstate, Coffee & Markets reaches thousands of conservative and libertarian listeners every day, providing a high quality intellectual discussion of pressing issues in public policy and the global marketplace from a free market perspective. Regular guests include Chicago attorney and blogger Pejman Yousefzadeh and New York technology businessman Francis Cianfrocca, who share their unique views on politics and Wall Street.

Over the past two years we’ve interviewed a number of thought leaders, journalists, and elected officials — including columnist and author Michael Barone, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Republican Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Virginia Speaker William Howell, foreign policy expert Elliott Abrams, Erick Erickson of Redstate, Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times, Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner, Robert George of the New York Post, Michele Steele of Bloomberg News, Sarah Kliff of Politico, Aaron Blake of the Washington Post, David Hogberg of Investor’s Business Daily, Scott Conroy of RealClearPolitics, Matt Lewis of the Daily Caller, Avik Roy of Forbes, HSA creator John C. Goodman, drug policy expert Roger Bate, economist Benjamin Zycher, Tea Party leader Melissa Clouthier, author Hunter Baker, sports blogger Josh Zerkle, China expert Ethan Epstein, Middle East expert Lee Smith, John Noonan and Jonathan Last of the Weekly Standard, a multitude of political candidates from across the country — and, lest we forget, Super Bowl-winning quarterback Drew Brees, who told us he’d consider a career in politics after he’s done with the whole football thing.

I would like to thank our chief sponsor, Stephen Clouse, for his generous support for our endeavor. I would like to thank all our guests for taking the time to chat with us. And I would like to particularly thank Brad, Francis, Pejman, our designer Chip Hayner, and our attorney Chris Badeaux for their hard work in making Coffee & Markets what it is today.

The Sammie Awards will take place April 8th, 2011, in Chicago. Tickets are available here.

>> If you’d like to take a listen to my latest appearance on BBC Radio – and by latest, I mean the first one in a decade – just give this a turn on your dial, where I debate Daniel Weiss of the Center for American Progress on offshore drilling, energy access, and other related topics. My followup post on Redstate is here – it features beer references.

If you couldn’t tell: I really like BBC Radio.