wfn.org | OC, Inc: Former FCC Commissioner Tristani to keynote media education

[powellb@ucc.org]

Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc. (OC, Inc.)
Barb Powell, press contact
(216) 736-2175
powellb@ucc.org

In Washington, D.C., contact:
Gloria Tristani
(202) 263-2586

On the Web: <ocinc.ucc.org>

For immediate release
March 9, 2005

Former FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani to deliver keynote address at media
education conference

Alliance for a Media Literate America biennial conference to be held June
25-28 in San Francisco

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Former FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani will be the
keynote speaker at the National Media Education Conference: Giving Voice to
a Diverse Nation, June 25-28, 2005, in San Francisco.

Sponsored by the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA), the
conference will focus attention on the role of media in U.S. life and will
challenge conference attendees to explore how media can and should serve
all citizens and communities.

The recent refusal of NBC and CBS to run a United Church of Christ
television ad is a prime example of why Americans need to understand these
issues, says Tristani, who is managing director of the Office of
Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc. (OC, Inc.), the UCC's
communication advocacy office.

"The consolidation of TV network ownership into the hands of a few
executives today puts freedom of speech and freedom of religious expression
in jeopardy," says Tristani. "By refusing to air the United Church of
Christ's paid commercial, CBS and NBC are stifling religious expression.
They are denying the communities they serve a suitable access to differing
ideas and expressions."

Tristani will be one of several speakers at the conference who represent
and advocate for diversity in media in many ways, including race, gender,
economic, age, sexual orientation and religion.

The conference is part of AMLA's program to promote media literacy
education ? education that "encourages hope rather than cynicism, and
participation rather than passivity," says AMLA President Lynda Bergsma.
"Media literacy education goes beyond critique and analysis of media to
critical and creative thinking, visual literacy, media production, lifelong
learning and participatory democracy."

Information about the conference is available online at <www.amlainfo.org>.

The Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc. (OC, Inc.)
was established in 1959. Throughout its history, OC, Inc. has advocated for
persons historically excluded from the media, especially women and people
of color; petitioned the FCC to issue EEO rules; sought to guarantee
educational and informational children's programming; defended the Equal
Time Rule for political candidates; supported efforts to establish
low-power FM radio; protected affordable access to emerging technologies;
and urged strengthening of basic corporate character requirements for those
who transmit images and data.

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