wfn.org | UCC agency supports broadcasters' vow to keep

["Barb Powell"<powellb@ucc.org>]

affirmative action
July 30, 1998
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
William C. Winslow, press contact
(212) 870-2137
winsloww@ucc.org
In Cleveland:  
Laurie Bartels, press contact
(216) 736-2213
bartelsl@ucc.org
On the Web: <http://www.ucc.org>

United Church of Christ agency supports
broadcasters' vow to keep affirmative action

     NEW YORK CITY   The executive director of the
United Church of Christ's communication office says he is
"very pleased" with a decision by major broadcasters and
cable owners to keep affirmative action despite a court
decision that allows them to ignore FCC affirmative action
guidelines.
     "This validates what smart broadcasters know, that
affirmative action has been good for the industry and good for
America," says the Rev. Arthur Lawrence Cribbs Jr.
     "We don't want special treatment," Cribbs says. 
"Many people of color in the industry today would not be here
if it weren't for affirmative action.  This assures that others
will now have the same opportunity."
     Broadcasters who told the Federal Communications
Commission they would voluntarily continue to honor its EEO
guidelines include, among others, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox,
Time Warner, Cox and Cablevision.
     "This is a splendid example of civic responsibility on
the part of today's dominant element in American business,"
says the Rev. Everett C. Parker, director emeritus of the Office
of Communication, who is now its consultant on broadcast
advocacy.  It was Parker who, as head of the office,
successfully petitioned the Federal Communications
Commission in 1968 to institute EEO guidelines for
broadcasters.
     While affirmative action has been under attack
throughout the country in recent years, the debate didn't
directly affect broadcasters until a three-judge panel of the
appellate court for the

District of Columbia ruled on April 14 that the FCC could no
longer require such guidelines. The case came out of a suit
brought by the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People asking the FCC to enforce EEO provisions at
a radio station owned by the Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod. The judges ruled that the Commission's affirmative
action policies did not serve the public interest. 
     While applauding the broadcasters' action, Parker
called upon religious bodies and other public groups to urge
the Justice Department to appeal the circuit court ruling that
struck down rules "that have functioned successfully, without
challenge, since 1971."
     The United Church of Christ, with national offices in
Cleveland, has more than 1.4 million members in some 6,000
local churches in the United States and Puerto Rico.  It was
formed by the 1957 union of the Congregational Christian
Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.  Its
Office of Communication carries out projects to protect the
public interest and advance affirmative action in
telecommunications, provides educational programs in
communications and handles public relations for the
denomination.

                  # # #
                    
[EDITORS: To follow is the complete text of a statement by the
Rev. Everett C. Parker, director emeritus of the Office of
Communication of the United Church of Christ, regarding the
announcement by major broadcasters and cable owners to continue
following FCC affirmative action guidelines.]

"The decision of a significant segment of the broadcasting and
cable-TV industries to continue to follow the equal employment
opportunity guidelines of the Federal Communications
Commission is a splendid example of civic responsibility on the
part of today's dominant element in American business.  These
companies also know from experience that their good citizenship
will further their self interest.  Over the past fifteen years the four
major networks, other multiple station owners, and progressive
cable companies, such as Bresnan Communications, Cablevision,
C-SPAN and Discovery Channel, have significantly increased the
presence of minorities by recruiting and training hundreds of
minority high school youths, and giving them jobs after college. 
They have also made way for a substantial number of adult
minorities.  The far-seeing leaders in these communications
companies know that to have an adequate number of educated,
skilled workers available in the next millennium, they must open
the way now to our fast-growing population of minority youths.

"Religious bodies and other public groups should support job
opportunities for minorities and women by urging the Justice
Department to appeal the narrow interpretation of a three-judge
Circuit Court panel that struck down the FCC employment rules
that have functioned successfully, without challenge, since 1971."
###