Sens. Duckworth, Booker, Portman, Schatz introduced today a finely crafted bill that will rightfully return to the FCC its authority to stop predatory prison phone rates across the country. 

"This bill is a much-needed remedy to an extremely detrimental court decision last year," said Cheryl A. Leanza, policy advisor to the United Church of Christ's media justice ministry, OC Inc., a primary backer of the bill. "Families, clergy and loved ones have been suffering for decades and the new legislation will restore power to the Federal Communications Commission to establish just and reasonable rates."

After a decade of delay, between 2012 and 2016, the Federal Communications Commission began to address predatory rates to telephone people in prison, jail and detention centers. Over those years the FCC reigned in long distance rates to 21 and 25 cents per minute, capped local rates at the same levels with a few exceptions for smaller jails, and imposed limits on the egregious fees which accompany inmate calling. These rulings were viciously attacked in the courts.

Inmate calling companies and a few states (led by then Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt) sued to stop the FCC's rules. Partially in response to an FCC that did not fully defend the rules, a federal appellate court blocked the rules and cramped the authority granted to the FCC. In one most egregious example, the court concluded that the term "fair" meant that rates should be fair to phone companies but need not be fair to consumers. 

Ms. Leanza explained, "the Inmate Technical Correction Act is a critical step to ensuring that previous efforts at the FCC are reestablished." FCC Chairman Pai and Commissioner Carr articulated the need for legislation in their confirmation hearing; Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel are outspoken supporters of ending the abuse of consumers in this market.

"The entire prison phone justice community owes a debt of gratitude to Senators Duckworth, Booker, Portman and Schatz for joining together and backing this legislation. No one believes the inmate communications market is working, and this bill will put fairness to consumers back into the equation," said Cheryl A. Leanza, policy advisor for the United Church of Christ's media justice ministry, OC Inc.

On December 4, 2017 organizations comprising faith traditions that consist of over 100 million people in the United States filed a letter to oppose repeal of current open Internet protections. These organizations addressed a letter to current Federal Communications Chairman Ajit Pai, who recently released a draft order rolling back net neutrality protections adopted in 2015. 

The letter cited the importance of communications rights in securing fundamental human dignity, "modern communication tools can be used and designed to maximize individual freedoms and human dignity or they can be developed with an eye only to maximize profit and power by the entities that control them."

The letter further explained the direct importance for faith-based institutions, "Modern communications are essential for our home faith institutions, to share scripture, help neighbors, support each other, and raise funds to support our work."

The letter urges the Federal Communications Commission to "retain the existing protections to protect an Open Internet and to use the strongest legal authority to prohibit paid prioritization."

The letter was coordinated by the United Church of Christ's media justice ministry, OC Inc., and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. For further information contact Cheryl Leanza, policy advisor for UCC's media justice ministry at cleanza@alhmail.com.

The letter was signed by: 

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces

Franciscan Action Network

Islamic Society of North America

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

National Council of Churches

Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness

Religion Communicators Council

SIGNIS North America | World Catholic Association for Communications

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

United Church of Christ, OC Inc.

World Association for Christian Communication, North America

Signatories of the Letter

The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces represents Sisters who, with their Mission Partners address the needs of thousands of low-income people in 28 states of the United States and overseas each year. Dedicated to serving girls, women, and families who experience poverty, exploitation, vulnerability, and marginalization, the Congregation and their lay partners minister to immigrants and victims of human trafficking here and abroad as well as persons in situations of domestic violence. Communication is key to our networking within the US and in the other 71 countries where the Congregation is located in order to positively meet the challenges our program participants face. www.buonpastoreint.org

Inspired by the Gospel of Jesus, and the example of Saints Francis and Clare, the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) is a collective Franciscan voice, with more than 50 member institutions, seeking to transform United States public policy related to peace making, care for creation, poverty, and human rights. https://franciscanaction.org/

Since 1950, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) has served as a leading voice of witness to the living Christ.  NCC unifies a diverse covenant community of 38 member communions and over 40 million individuals –100,000 congregations from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African-American, and Living Peace traditions – in a common commitment to advocate and represent God’s love and promise of unity in our public square.  NCC partners with secular and interfaith partners to advance a shared agenda of peace, progress, and positive change. http://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/

The mission of the Islamic Society of North America is to provide a common platform for presenting Islam, supporting Muslim communities, developing educational, social and outreach programs and fostering good relations with other religious communities, civic and service organizations. ISNA's annual convention is generally regarded as the largest gathering of American Muslims in the United States. http://www.isna.net/

The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd educates and advocates on social-justice issues for the transformation of society to the benefit of all people. The center reflects the spirituality, history, and mission of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who have had a presence in the United States for over 175 years. http://www.gsadvocacy.org/

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate, and help the church to advocate, the social witness perspectives and policies of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The church has a long history of applying these biblically and theologically-based insights to issues that affect the public — maintaining a public policy ministry in the nation’s capital since 1946. https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/compassion-peace-justice/washington/

The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929, is an association of communications professionals who work for and with a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the areas of communications, public relations, advertising and development. RCC members promote excellence in the communication of faith and values in the public arena and encourage understanding among religious and faith groups. RCC activities include local chapters and a yearly convention, and annually honors excellence in the communication of religious issues by RCC members and the secular media.http://www.religioncommunicators.org/

SIGNIS North America is a region of SIGNIS, a non-governmental organization that includes members from over 100 countries. As the "World Catholic Association for Communication," it brings together radio, television, cinema, video, media education, Internet, and new technology professionals. SIGNIS's mission is to engage with media professionals and support Catholic Communicators to help transform our cultures in the light of the Gospel by promoting Human Dignity, Justice and Reconciliation. http://www.signis.net/

The United Church of Christ is a faith community rooted in justice that recognizes the unique power of the media to shape public understanding and thus society. For this reason, UCC’s Office of Communication, Inc. (OC, Inc.) works to create just and equitable media structures that give meaningful voice to diverse peoples, cultures and ideas. Established in 1959, OC Inc. ultimately established the right of all citizens to participate at the Federal Communications Commission as part of its efforts to ensure a television broadcaster in Jackson, MS served its African-American viewers during the civil rights movement. The Cleveland-based United Church of Christ consists of approximately 5,000 local congregations across the United States. It was formed by the 1957 union of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. http://www.uccmediajustice.org/

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is a nonprofit corporation, the members of which are the active Catholic Bishops in the United States. The Catholic Church, the largest denomination in the United States, has over 67 million adherents in over 18,000 parishes throughout the country.  The USCCB provides a framework and a forum for the Bishops to teach Catholic doctrine, set pastoral directions, and develop policy positions on contemporary social issues. As such, the USCCB advocates and promotes the pastoral teaching of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in such diverse areas of the nation’s life as the free expression of ideas, fair employment and equal opportunity for the under-privileged, immigration, protection of the rights of parents and children, the sanctity of life, and the importance of education. Values of particular importance to the Conference include the protection of the rights of religious organizations and religious believers under the First Amendment, and the proper development of regulations in that regard. http://www.usccb.org/ 

World Association for Christian Communication, North America is a regional association of WACC Global. The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC Global) is a non-governmental organization that builds on communication rights in order to promote social justice with members in 120 countries. WACC offers professional guidance on communication policies, interprets developments in global communications, and discusses the consequences which such developments have for Churches and communities everywhere, especially in the South. WACC works towards the empowerment of women and assists the training of Christian communicators. http://waccglobal.org/our-networks/wacc-regional-networks/wacc-north-america

The following can be attributed to Cheryl A. Leanza, policy advisor to the United Church of Christ’s media justice ministry, OC Inc., in response to several votes today at the Federal Communications Commission:

In today’s string of votes, we see Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai agenda unleashed on the United States.  He coyly waited until after his Senate confirmation vote and the most recent Congressional oversight hearing to unleash an unprecedented attack on civil rights and access to information.  The most vulnerable are feeling the most harmful impact.  Tribes, the most in need of affordable accessible communications, will see their subsidies immediately cut and their lands redefined without intergovernmental consultation.  Low income people must anticipate damaging changes as the Commission plans to cut off almost 70 percent of its subscribers and then proposes to add insult to injury with more draconian cuts in the form of a budget cap, lifetime limits on benefits, and more.

Today’s media ownership vote will take effect immediately:  it is not a proposal.  The ruling cuts back and eliminates rules that have been in place since the beginning of broadcast regulation.  We are losing rules that were designed to protect economic competition as well as competition in the marketplace of ideas.  No one looking at today’s media environment could imagine that the FCC, today, would see a media environment in need of fewer fact-checked news stories, fewer journalists, and reduced numbers of independent locally accountable news outlets--but that is what we will get.

This vote puts the final nail in the coffin for ownership diversity at the FCC.  This year’s Trump FCC fully exploits the failings in last year’s vote, which ignored the record in an effort to hide the connection between ownership and content.  The incubator proposal is meaningless, particularly in a consolidated media environment like the one we are about to experience.

With these actions, the Trump administration lays groundwork for less access to information and less voter education and engagement, which increases the likelihood that elections can be skewed by unverified news stories intent on confusion and manipulation. The forthcoming vote on net neutrality will further diminish freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas online.

One rule now stands between the Trump FCC and approval of the Sinclair merger.  Sinclair is poised to fully exploit the rule rollbacks adopted today and waits expectantly for Chairman Pai’s promised revisions to the national TV ownership cap.  Congress set the national TV ownership cap by statute in 2004, but Chairman Pai has promised to change it, evading the statutorily-set limits on FCC power.  After that illegal change, the Sinclair merger will set the state for a new breathtaking wave of consolidation as other media companies rush to catch up.  Congress must ensure the FCC does not evade the limits of its statutory authority.

Rev. Dr. Everett C. Parker, founder of the United Church of Christ's media justice ministry, OC Inc., dedicated his life to accountable and local broadcasting.  I am ashamed that so much of his amazing life's work is being tossed in the trashbin today.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, like Donald Trump who appointed him, intends to keep his promises. His dissents as a minority Commissioner made clear his plans. This month, after squeaking through his confirmation vote in the Senate, he finally brings out the big guns.

He is fulfilling his promise to gut the FCC's program to assist low income people with the costs of telephone service and broadband.He is fulfilling his promise to turn over the media marketplace to a few, huge owners, while offering women and people of color a fig leaf of paper ownership that conveys no equity rights. And he intends to fulfill his promise next month to turn over Internet freedom to the control of a few large corporate ISPs. These are just a few examples of the decisions that will be adopted next month and the month after, some of which will be almost impossible to reverse if he succeeds.

Not only is he keeping his promises, he is again attempting to disguise them with technical terms and doublespeak that, heretofore, could only be found in George Orwell's dystopia. Thus, he attacks low-income households in a docket titled, "Bridging the Digital Divide for Low-Income Consumers," and his decision to ignore the pleas of civil rights leaders is called "Rules and Policies to Promote New Entry and Ownership Diversity in the Broadcasting Services." Could it be the Commission is secretly ashamed of its actions, using these euphemisms to disguise their favors for corporate America at the expense of the rest of the country?

Perhaps he uses these terms because he knows he is undermining the chances that anyone can question his decisions. The steps he is taking will tip the balance even more toward benefits for the privileged, leaving the most impacted behind, favoring fake news against fact-checked journalism. These decisions combined will mean less access to the Internet, less free speech on the Internet and more inflammatory, uniform broadcast content in cities and towns across the country. If he succeeds, as long as the names sound pretty, the dark effects underneath will be ignored.

The agenda released last night make clear that the Ajit Pai threat is terrifying, and it is no innocent Halloween joke. The scars of the Trump Administration continue, and with these decisions it may be that no journalists or activists will retain the tools needed to challenge them.

Check out our blog on Medium....

Rashad Robinson, Ravi Kapur to Be Honored At 35th Annual Everett Parker Lecture

Rashad Robinson

Rashad Robinson, executive director of the Color Of Change, and Ravi Kapur, founder and CEO of Diya TV, will be honored at the 35th Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture and Awards Breakfast, the United Church of Christ’s media justice ministry, the Office of Communication, Inc., has announced.

This year’s event will be held at 8 a.m. October 24 at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 945 G Street NW, in Washington, DC. OC Inc. previously announced that Rinku Sen, outgoing president and executive director of Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation, will deliver this year’s Parker lecture.

Robinson will receive the Everett C. Parker Award in recognition of his efforts to build Color Of Change into the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, with more than one million members. The Parker Award is given annually in recognition of an individual whose work embodies the principles and values of the public interest in telecommunications and the media as demonstrated by the late Rev. Dr. Parker, OC Inc.’s founder.

Under Robinson’s leadership, Color Of Change has championed media justice, developing strategies for changing written and unwritten rules that negatively impact the lives of Black people, people of color and all people. A frequent commentator in broadcast and print outlets, Robinson previously served as senior director of media programs at GLAAD and worked on racial justice and voting rights issues at the Right to Vote Campaign and FairVote.

Ravi Kapur

Kapur will receive the Donald H. McGannon Award, given in recognition of special contributions in advancing the role of women and persons of color in the media. Kapur’s Diya TV is the first 24-hour U.S. broadcast network targeted to serve a South Asian audience, reaching more than 70 million people in a dozen markets.

Kapur became the first Indian-American to own a full-power TV station in this country. His first broadcasting venture, KAXT-TV in San Francisco, developed programming to serve the Bay Area’s African-American, Hispanic, South Asian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Filipino communities, and Kapur led the station to its first Emmy Award in 2013.

The Parker Lecture was created in 1982 to recognize the late Rev. Dr. Parker’s pioneering work as an advocate for the public's rights in broadcasting. The event is the only lecture in the country to examine telecommunications in the digital age from an ethical perspective. A list of previous Parker Lecture honorees is available on our web site.

The saga of families and children seeking to maintain relationships with their loved ones in prison and jail has been on-going since early last decade. For every step forward toward more just treatment, affordable rates and fees, the prison phone industrial complex strikes back, demonstrating their chokehold on the service offerings for these people. The most recent actions by the Federal Communications Commission have failed these communities, leaving them in a market that all observers characterize as broken. 

Senator Duckworth's new legislation, S. 1614, the Video Visitation and Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017, will eliminate any question regarding the Federal Communications Commission's authority to stop these practices and will address just uses of and charges for video calling services.  

Since the bi-partisan leadership of the Federal Communications Commission supports legislative efforts to cement the FCC's authority to act in this area, we urge the Senate Commerce Committee to quickly take up this bill.

Originally published on http://thesaltcollective.org/god-justice-open-internet/

“I can’t stand with you and join you in your struggle if I haven’t heard your story.” — Rabbi Sharon Brous

Some of the most influential people in my life are people I’ve never met — or met only once. I’m a white, cis-gendered, middle class, almost-50, married mother of two with a passion for justice and an ever-expanding appreciation of the beauty of God in the world and of the amazing people who have walked before me on a path of faith-inspired justice. I can do this work, in part, because I’ve listened, over and over again, to narratives and videos that bring tears to my face from folks who I visit on the Internet but whose stories I otherwise would have missed. I can learn about justice every day because people who would not be given the time of day by a media conglomerate can bear their souls, share their gifts, and invent new and more creative ways to speak to my heart on the Internet.

I remember listening to Cayden Mak, now Executive Director of 18 Million Rising, speaking in 2014 about how the Internet literally saved his life. “Have you ever been young and queer and brown in the great American suburb?” I haven’t. But I can share, just a little bit, his story and bring it into my understanding of the world.

Evan Dolive, father and pastor in Texas, who wrote a book stemming from his outrage thinking about Victoria’s Secret marketing sexy underwear to middle schoolers. We spoke once, a few years back, but I get his blogs every week online and while he lives so far away, the perspectives we share are clear to me over the Internet.

Rev. Ashely Harness and Rev. Lawrence Richardson, both who publish at the Salt Collective— maybe we crossed paths once in person in Cleveland at the United Church of Christ headquarters. But from then on, I’ve been such a fan, following on Twitter and Facebook, taking in everything from tips on how to write an op-ed rooted in justice and faith, to cheering on Lawrence’s efforts to help care for his precious nephews. A glimpse of the divine in each of them — on the Internet.

And my great Faithful Internet co-founder Valarie Kaur, who, drawing on her journey as a Sikh activist, made the most beautiful speech in New York this New Year’s, alongside Rev. William Barber. She told me and a few million others — over the Internet — that the darkness of right now is the darkness of the womb, not the darkness of the tomb. When times seem darkest, replaying that video can get you through. She’ll tell you that her new Revolutionary Love project would not be possible without the open Internet.

All these stories are part of the work we do to build a more just world. The Internet is part of the basic building blocks of our work — just like the road outside the front door which takes us to a community meeting, spirit-lifting worship, or to our neighbor’s house to bring chicken soup in the dead of winter.

I’ve been working in media justice for more than 20 years, and critical analysis of media has always come down to this (to mangle Marshall McLuhan): whoever owns the medium controls the message. Open Internet policies, protected by net neutrality, mean that whoever owns the medium cannot control the message. An ISP cannot charge more for video to flow without buffering — if it’s good enough for NBC, it’s good enough for all of us.

Today, July 12, 2017, miraculously, not only a range of non-profits around the country are joining together to speak out for real Net Neutrality, but also huge corporations that probably could afford to pay for access. We’re all proclaiming the need to protect the fundamental structure of the Internet — which has been with us from the beginning, but is under threat today.

The faith community understands the power of story. The Faithful Internet campaign is working to bring that voice to the policy-makers at the Federal Communications Commission who are threatening to turn the Internet over to network owners. You can join us on July 12 via our Thunderclap campaign, sign and share our petition, and visit FaithfulInternet.org where you can learn more and see testimonials from Rev. Otis Moss III, Linda Sarsour, Sister Simone Campbell and Rev. William Barber to name just a few.

The work of healing the world is taking place on the Internet. And that work should not have to bear an additional burden of languishing in an Internet slow lane, waiting until someone pays an additional toll to release it, full force, into the world.

Ms. Rinu Sen, 2017 Parker Lecturer

Rinku Sen, outgoing president and executive director of Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation, will deliver the 35th Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture, the United Church of Christ’s media justice ministry announced.

The Parker Lecture and Awards Breakfast will be held at 8 a.m. October 24 at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 945 G Street NW, in Washington, DC. For tickets or sponsorship information, click here.

Sen is uniquely poised to give the Parker Lecture, with expertise in racial justice, journalism, and organizing.   She was instrumental in transforming Race Forward's magazine, Colorlines, into a news website. Colorlines has been able to use journalism to focus on voting rights restrictions, police violence, and immigration.

Under Sen’s leadership, Race Forward changed the immigration debate with its groundbreaking “Shattered Families” report, detailing how record deportations of parents were leading to the placement of thousands of children in foster care. She was also the architect of the “Drop the I-Word” campaign, which led a number of major U.S. news organizations to stop referring to immigrants as “illegal.”

After 16 years on the Race Forward staff, Sen is stepping into a new role as the organization’s senior strategist, following a merger with the Center for Social Inclusion. She will continue to contribute to Race Forward’s award-winning news site Colorlines, which she previously served as publisher.

Prior to her work at Race Forward, Sen served in leadership roles for more than a decade with the Center for Third World Organizing. A native of India, she grew up in northeastern factory towns and learned to speak English in a two-room school house. She holds a B.A. in women’s studies from Brown University and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.    

The Parker Lecture was created in 1982 to recognize the late Rev. Dr. Parker’s pioneering work as an advocate for the public's rights in broadcasting. The event is the only lecture in the country to examine telecommunications in the digital age from an ethical perspective.

For more information about this year's Parker Lecture and to reserve your seat, visit our 2017 Parker Lecture web page, or reserve your seat.