Parker Lecture extols communications efforts to underserved gro

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.org>]

Parker Lecture extols communications efforts to underserved groups

> Written by Gregg Brekke
> September 29, 2010

The 28th annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in

Telecommunications Lecture and Awards event, held
Sept. 29 at the National Press Club in
Washington, D.C., honored two communications
professionals for their significant contributions
to improving access and inclusion in media
coverage and technologies. FCC Commissioner the
Hon. Mignon Clyburn delivered the keynote address.

More than 200 people gathered ­ representing
various government agency, policy organizations,
communications outlets and providers, and
including a significant contingent of National
Council of Churches Communication Commission
participants ­ in this annual event honoring the
legacy of the Rev. Everett C. Parker, who in 1959
founded the faith-based media reform
organization, the Office of Communication of the United Church of 
Christ, I nc.

> Marcellus Alexander received the Donald H.
> McGannon Award, which recognizes special
> contributions in advancing the roles of women and
> people of color in the media. McGannon currently
> is executive vice president for television of the
> National Association of Broadcasters and
> president of the Association of Broadcasters
> Education Foundation. During his career in
> broadcasting and broadcast management, he has
> worked to provide opportunities for many
> individuals to achieve their professional goals in radio and 
> television.

In his acceptance speech, Alexander called the
award "particularly meaningful" and recounted his
early career as an employee of Donald McGannon,
first at Westinghouse and then at CBS upon its
merger. "People of difference ­ age, gender
ability and socio-economic background ­ provide
strength to what we do," said Alexander of the
award and his continued commitment to diversity
among communications professionals.

Carol Pierson received the Everett C. Parker
Award in recognition of her work that embodied
the principles and values of the public interest
in telecommunications and the media. Pierson is
the recently retired president and CEO of the
National Federation of Community Broadcasters
(NFCB) and the co-founder of the National Lesbian
and Gay Journalists Association. Her work in
bringing broadcast coverage to remote Native
American and Latino communities was especially
recognized, in addition to her continued work on
low-power FM service initiatives.

Prior to her work with NFCB, Pierson worked at
KQED-FM in San Francisco, WGBH-FM in Boston and
WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio. In recalling that
hundreds of new radio stations are on the air via
her work in low-power FM, she noted that "the
assumption is that new technology replaces the
old, but it rarely does." Her assessment on the
current broadcasting landscape mentioned the
prominence of the internet, while reaffirming the
cost-effective and near-universal access across
socio-economic and cultural lines to radio and television.

Everett Parker, now 96 and living in New York,
attended the event with his son Truman and
grandson Benjamin of Idaho. Prior to the keynote
address, Parker addressed the group with a few words.

"We must continue the work of bringing talented
women and people of minority groups into
communications leadership," he said. He continued
by noting that although the Federal
Communications Commission had appointed several
female commissioners, it had never appointed a woman as chief 
commissioner.

Following this introduction and challenge,

Clyburn delivered the keynote address. Prior to
her appointment to the federal post, Clyburn
served 11 years on the Public Service Commission
of South Carolina. She also served as publisher
and general manager of "The Coastal Times," a
weekly Charleston newspaper focusing on pertinent
issues in the African-American community.

She began by noting the FCC was nominated the
most improved federal agency in 2009. Recalling
the major overhaul initiated in the era when
Everett Parker was the director of OC Inc., she
thanked him for his continued interest in the
public good presented by broadcasting.

Initiatives of particular concern for Clyburn
include the expansion of broadband internet to
all communities and economic groups, and efforts
to encourage "digital literacy" in underrepresented groups.

"Television freed remote communities from information isolation," 
Clyburn s aid.

"With the internet, all borders were removed,"
she added, but noted that not all population
groups have access to what she called an
"essential tool" in education and economic advancement.

"People shouldn't have to choose between paying
their food bill and paying for broadband," she
said, noting the 10 percent coverage of broadband
on Indian lands and in economically challenged
areas where "there is no financial incentive" for
service providers to add high-speed access.
Clyburn concluded by expressing her support for
the National Broadband Plan and the creation of a
National Digital Service Corps, similar to the AmeriCorps teaching 
initiati ve.

The 2010 event was sponsored by Comcast, Google,
Verizon and others including the UCC's Justice
and Witness Ministries, the UCC's National and
Global Ministries, and the Odyssey Networks.