United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry

06/19/2026

On Juneteenth, we honor the truth that was kept from enslaved people in Texas — that they were finally free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Today, a different truth is being kept from all of us. The federal government has deleted thousands of datasets on health disparities, cut $42 million in Black maternal mortality research, and frozen sickle cell disease funding.

The Onyx Impact’s Blackout Report has the worrying details — please read 👇

Exposing the campaign to erase Black progress. Explore Onyx Impact’s Blackout Report — data, stories, and action to defend our history.

06/18/2026

Senator Markey wrote the law that put parental controls in every television set in America. Now FCC Chair Carr is twisting that law to pressure the TV ratings system to label programs featuring transgender and nonbinary people as harmful content.

Markey told the FCC: Congress never gave you that authority. We agree.

Sign our petition: https://buff.ly/PzNwbQw

Markey Slams FCC for Weaponizing His Law to Target Transgender and Nonbinary Americans

06/16/2026

More than 30 states won’t let incarcerated people receive physical mail from loved ones. Contact visitation is disappearing. Our friends at the Prison Policy Initiative are hosting a webinar on July 1 on how families are fighting back. Register:

Protecting family connections and bonds with loved ones during incarceration is one of the most important and, increasingly, one of the most difficult things advocates can do. Contact visitation, handwritten cards and letters, and regular phone calls improve mental health outcomes for both people in...

06/15/2026

We joined Demand Progress and 100+ organizations in a letter to the 42 House Democrats who voted to reauthorize Section 702 warrantless surveillance with no privacy reforms. This administration has made clear it will use every tool available to go after its political opponents. No Democrat should be handing it unfettered access to Americans' personal data. Warrant protections are the bare minimum.

Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, more than 100 organizations—including local grassroots, state, and national groups— joined Demand Progress and Free Press Action in sending a letter to the 42 House Democrats who voted in favor of Republican leadership and the Trump Administration’s three year...

06/12/2026

UCC Media Justice hit the road last week for the Keystone Conference UCC’s Annual Meeting. Our workshop covered how big media mergers are leaving local communities behind, our current FCC campaign against TV content warnings for LGBTQ+ characters, and .

Great group! Thanks to everyone who joined us in Millersville, Pennsylvania!

06/04/2026

🖊️ SIGN THE PETITION: https://buff.ly/rIOpFyq

It is Pride Month. And FCC Chair Brendan Carr wants TV ratings to label shows that include transgender and nonbinary characters as if they are dangerous content. Trans people are our neighbors and our fellow congregants. More than 5 million children in this country have LGBTQ+ parents. They are not a danger to anyone.

06/03/2026

An 18-year-old called CBS out at the News Emmys for failing Mike Wallace's legacy. CBS spent the same day pushing Sharyn Alfonsi out of 60 Minutes. The broadcast industry’s silence costs us all.

Student Scholarship Winner Calls Out CBS at News Emmys: ‘The Recent Direction of the Outlet Stains the Legacy of Mike Wallace’

06/02/2026

“Canceling these programs without congressional approval is unlawful.”

Our friends at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Center for Civil Rights and Technology say it plainly. The president cancelled $2.75 billion in congressionally approved funding with a Truth Social post.

That’s not how this works — and it’s why we’re fighting it in court.

Discover the Digital Equity Act's role in fostering inclusion and providing digital resources for underserved populations.

06/01/2026

"Abandon the construction of yet another Tower of Babel."

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, frames AI as a moral challenge rather than just a technological problem. When AI concentrates power in the hands of a few and sorts people by risk and worthiness with no accountability, that is a spiritual problem as well as a legal one:

On May 25, Pope Leo XIV released a groundbreaking new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. Across five chapters, the Holy Father...

05/28/2026

🚨 FCC Chair Brendan Carr has been busy threatening broadcast TV stations for airing views he doesn’t like — such as when they air comedians who criticize the president or air news stories about ICE’s activities. We’ve been resisting and campaigning against these threats.

FCC Chair Carr’s threats have now reached a new low and hit close to home. He just opened a proceeding asking whether kids’ TV shows that include transgender and nonbinary characters should be subject to warnings as part of the TV industry’s existing rating system. (The FCC doesn’t even have legal authority over the ratings!)

More than 5 million children in this country have LGBTQ+ parents. These families are not a danger to anyone: TV programs telling their stories do not require a content warning. Add your name to our petition opposing the FCC’s proposal 👇

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has opened a proceeding asking whether the TV ratings system should create new warnings for programs that include transgender and nonbinary characters. The proceeding treats the existence of LGBTQ+ families as equivalent to violent or sexual content. The TV ratings are maintai...