United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry

United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry The United Church of Christ's Media Justice and Communications Rights Ministry Founded in 1959, only two years after the formation of the UCC, the Rev.

The United Church of Christ Media Justice ministry, formerly UCC OC Inc., is a faithful advocate for communications rights on behalf of United Church of Christ. Dr. Everett C. Parker was prompted by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to set out to reform television stations in the south, which were doing a poor job of covering the Civil Rights Movement. After undertaking a dangerous strategy to chall

enge the institutions of racism in the era, and many years of litigation before the Federal Communications Commission and in the federal courts, UCC Media Justice achieved seminal success. It not only forced the FCC to take away the broadcast license of WLBT-TV in Jackson, Miss., but it also established the legal right of all citizens to participate in FCC proceedings. The case continues today to protect citizen rights in the field of media advocacy. Building upon its successes in the early 1960s, UCC Media Justice continues to be a leader in media reform by pushing for a more just, accessible, diverse and accountable media. It works to promote public interests in the media, especially for people of color, women and children.

A prison phone company is asking the FCC to let it charge incarcerated people and their families more than Congress said...
08/21/2026

A prison phone company is asking the FCC to let it charge incarcerated people and their families more than Congress said was fair. We filed to stop it with allies.

The company’s own numbers don’t add up, and the record shows jails using phone revenue to pay for mattresses, blankets, and staff salaries. That’s exactly the kind of exploitation the Martha Wright-Reed Act was supposed to end, and we’ll keep fighting for justice for incarcerated people and their loved ones.

We filed an opposition at the FCC to block a prison phone company from gutting the rate caps Congress set under the Martha Wright-Reed Act.

The FCC handed the biggest broadcast companies in the country exactly what they wanted: permission to get even bigger. T...
08/20/2026

The FCC handed the biggest broadcast companies in the country exactly what they wanted: permission to get even bigger. The 39% ownership cap was set by Congress, and the FCC's actions are unlawful.

Our 2026 Parker Award recipient Richard Prince has the full story. https://buff.ly/GXz9N1i

Kansas City Call Fails to Publish, Could Shut Down

We join the United Church of Christ in mourning the death on Monday of the Rev. Dr. Barbara Brown Zikmund (or “BBZ” as s...
08/19/2026

We join the United Church of Christ in mourning the death on Monday of the Rev. Dr. Barbara Brown Zikmund (or “BBZ” as she was known to so many).

We will all miss both her inspirational leadership and her warm, engaging and welcoming personality. Learn more about her legacy:

Rev. Zikmund had a keen interest in the history of our own organization and the story of Rev. Dr. Everett Parker’s ultimately successful battle on behalf of the public interest in the broadcasting industry.

Our 2026 Parker Lecturer, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, was named a MacArthur Fellow for illuminating how technology reflects and r...
08/19/2026

Our 2026 Parker Lecturer, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, was named a MacArthur Fellow for illuminating how technology reflects and reproduces inequality.

Watch her MacArthur profile from 2024, and then join us on September 10 in Washington, D.C. or virtually: https://buff.ly/8kVKPRo

Illuminating how technology reflects and reproduces inequality and championing the role of imagination in social transformation.

Our Policy Advisor Cheryl Leanza: "Credit to Disney for standing up to the Administration’s censoring, bullying tactics....
08/18/2026

Our Policy Advisor Cheryl Leanza: "Credit to Disney for standing up to the Administration’s censoring, bullying tactics. Telling in this filing is this: 'ABC’s cooperation simply begat increasingly aggressive demands.'

Many many companies could standing up for policies that they know are right and good for the public and industry stability and predictability. Instead, we're seeing scorched-earth tactics to get anything you can no matter the consequences."

ABC has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission, alleging violation of its First Amendment rights.

“Whenever there’s progress, there’s always a backlash. And now we’re in the backlash again.” In 1972, Richard Prince was...
08/12/2026

“Whenever there’s progress, there’s always a backlash. And now we’re in the backlash again.”

In 1972, Richard Prince was one of the Metro Seven who challenged racial discrimination at the Washington Post. He went on to create “Journal-isms” and spend three decades holding the industry accountable. He’ll receive the Parker Award on September 10 in D.C.

Get your tickets: https://buff.ly/EooDeCf

As a member of the Washington Post Metro Seven in 1972, Richard Prince helped elevate equity and diversity in newsrooms. He's never stopped.

More than 23 million households lost their Affordable Connectivity Program subsidies when Congress let the program expir...
08/11/2026

More than 23 million households lost their Affordable Connectivity Program subsidies when Congress let the program expire. Our friends at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society have a new brief on what that means for people who depend on broadband to access healthcare.

Funding for federal programs supporting broadband infrastructure and digital inclusion has tightened over the last year. With the Affordable Connectivity Program winding down in April 2024, the termination of Digital Equity Act grants in May 2025, and changes to the Broadband, Equity, Access, and De...

“Instead of trying to make the world a little less harmful and make these systems a little less harmful, what if we were...
08/10/2026

“Instead of trying to make the world a little less harmful and make these systems a little less harmful, what if we were to completely reimagine them, envisioning a world beyond borders, beyond policing, beyond surveillance and supremacy?”

Dr. Ruha Benjamin, a MacArthur Fellow and author of Race After Technology, who has changed the way we understand how technology encodes racial inequality, will deliver this year’s Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture on September 10 in Washington, D.C.

In Tanner Lectures, the Princeton sociologist talks AI, social justice, and imagining a radically better world for everyone.

United Church of Christ's Our Faith Our Vote campaign is live for 2026! Voter registration tools, issue education, elect...
08/07/2026

United Church of Christ's Our Faith Our Vote campaign is live for 2026! Voter registration tools, issue education, election engagement toolkit for congregations.

For people of faith, public policy is how we love our neighbor. Vote with love.

United in Spirit and inspired by God’s grace, we welcome all, love all, and seek justice for all. We are the United Church of Christ. Keep up with how God

We joined the Center for Democracy & Technology and others in urging the FCC not to require phone customers to hand over...
08/07/2026

We joined the Center for Democracy & Technology and others in urging the FCC not to require phone customers to hand over government IDs just to get service. This proposal would endanger domestic violence survivors, people experiencing homelessness, and anyone who relies on prepaid phone plans.

Read the letter 👇

Chair Carr's FCC is using the equal time rule to go after broadcasters whose on-air talent criticizes the President.

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