November 12, 2009

CNN commentator Lou Dobbs abruptly announced that he was quitting the news network last night, but not before he included misleading information about the United Church of Christ and its support for the interfaith media justice coalition, So We Might See. In October, through its website, the coalition asked individuals to sign onto a letter to the Federal Communications Commission calling for a public hearing into the effects of anti-immigrant hate speech in the media.

On his final show, Dobbs – whose anti-immigration diatribes had become commonplace – interviewed the American Spectator's Jeffrey Lord, a UCC member, who has written lengthy unsubstantiated opinion pieces over the past five weeks critical of the involvement of the United Church of Christ's Office of Communication, Inc. (OC, Inc.) in the So We Might See coalition. OC, Inc. is the UCC's historic and independently incorporated media justice organization.

Lord's mischaracterizations of the UCC, OC Inc. and the coalition's work were refuted in an Oct. 28 statement by the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, the UCC's director of communication, who also serves as executive director of OC Inc.

The So We Might See Coalition was launched in July of this year to promote interfaith awareness of shared media-related issues and concerns. At the invitation of the UCC's OC Inc., several interfaith partners joined the coalition, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Islamic Society of North America, the National Council of Churches Communications Commission, Presbyterian News Service, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Disciples Justice Action Network. United Methodist Communications initially joined but later sought more time to seek its board members' approval.

"So We Might See is a new, but strong coalition committed to shedding light on important issues of media justice ranging from broadband internet access to junk food advertising targeting our kids," Guess said. "As one of our many issues of concern, our 2009 Media Violence Fast in October sought to encourage conversation and exploration into the effects of anti-immigrant hate speech on TV and radio."

The UCC's work to raise awareness about anti-immigrant hate speech has received support from others in the Hispanic community.

At its annual meeting, the UCC's Council for Hispanic Ministries voted to endorse OC Inc.'s "work in these efforts and against all hate media," according to the Rev. Marilyn Pagan-Banks, CHM chair.

On November 5, interfaith partners of the So We Might See Coalition received a letter of appreciation from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, commending the October's campaign against anti-immigrant hate speech. The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Members of the So We Might See Coalition:

We are writing to thank you for taking a stand against anti-immigrant hate speech in your recent campaign, the Media Violence Fast. Your efforts to educate your members about the harm caused by hate speech was commendable. We strongly appreciate your decision to take action to combat the resulting violence by supporting the National Hispanic Media Coalition's (NHMC's) efforts to ask the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Agency to gather more information on hate speech and its connection to hate crimes.

As advocates for immigration reform, we must face every day the detrimental effects of hate speech. It is an important role for the faith community to stand up and speak out in a moral voice against hatred. We understand that opponents of immigration reform and others are often all too willing to engage in unfortunate tactics that are meant to drive us apart and hinder our joint goals for justice and peace for all residents of the U.S. We hope that you will not be deterred in your own fight for justice and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Alex Nogales, President & CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition

Martin Castro, President & CEO, Mexican American Opportunity Foundation

Angelo Falcon, President, The National Institute for Latino Policy

Juan Andrade, President, United States Hispanic Leadership Institute

United Church of Christ News Service