http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52355

United Church of Christ Files FCC Challenge Against Spanish-language TV Station for Non-compliance with Children's Educational Guidelines

8/31/2005 11:55:00 AM


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To: National Desk, Media Reporter

Contact: Connie Larkman of The United Church of Christ, 216-736-2196; or Gloria Tristani of OC, Inc., 202-263-2576

CLEVELAND, Aug. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Standing up for the educational needs of Hispanic children, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc. (OC, Inc.) today asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny the license renewal application of a Spanish-language television broadcaster in the Cleveland, Ohio, area, for failure to comply with children's educational programming standards.

The UCC's action against Univision Cleveland, Inc. (WQHS-TV) represents the first time that a Spanish-speaking station's license renewal has been challenged for failure to comply with the Children's Television Act of 1990 and the children's educational guidelines, adopted by the FCC in 1996, that require local stations to air at least three hours per week of specifically educational programming.

The license challenge was announced at a press conference held at Cleveland's Buenas Nuevas UCC, where church and community leaders called on the FCC to hold stations accountable to public- interest guidelines.

At issue is the station's airing of "Complices al Rescate," a telenovela that "fails miserably" to satisfy the FCC's children's educational programming guidelines, according to Gloria Tristani, managing director of the UCC's OC, Inc., and a former FCC Commissioner.

"With the dramatic growth of Hispanics in this country and the increasing number of Hispanic children TV viewers in particular, the FCC must ensure that Spanish language programming meets the children educational guidelines," states Tristani. "These programs cannot be allowed to slip under the radar and avoid compliance with the FCC regulations."

The disputed program centers around twin girls -- unaware of their familial ties because they were separated at birth -- who, as friends, "hatch a plan to switch identities, leading to many comical and surprising moments," according to a website description.

"'Complices al Rescate' is about suspense, intrigue and love, not education or information," said Veronica Kramer, one of the UCC's complainants and a Cleveland mother of a 7-year-old boy.

Univision, the fifth largest U.S. broadcast network in any language, is the leading Spanish-language media company in the United States, reaching 98 percent of this country's Spanish- speaking population. Almost all of the Univision Network broadcasters relied on "Complices al Rescate" as their only children's educational program.

Hispanics represent slightly more than 1 percent of the UCC's 1.3-million members, and represent the largest growing racial/ethnic constituency of new UCC congregations.

Also, OC, Inc. today announced that it is also challenging the license renewal of Cleveland's English-speaking UPN affiliate, WUAB-TV (Channel 43), on similar grounds, arguing that its use of the animated program "Sabrina" did not satisfy FCC requirements.

"I was not able to find an explicit, accessible or palpable educational message in any of the episodes of 'Sabrina the Animated Series' under review," says Robert Abelman, Ph.D., a distinguished professor at Cleveland State University's School of Communication.

"The only cohesive or consistent theme across segments and episodes is that Sabrina's magic gets her in and out of trouble. This is hardly a pragmatic lesson for the audience and is most certainly not educational," Abelman concluded after reviewing the "Sabrina" programs on WUAB.

The United Church of Christ long advocated for persons historically excluded from the media, especially women and people of color. In a 1964 landmark case against WLBT-TV in Jackson, Miss., the United Church of Christ helped to establish the legal precedent that television stations, because of operating on public-owned airwaves, must serve the needs of their communities of license.

OC, Inc.'s most recent FCC complaints mark the second time in less than a year that the UCC-related entity has filed license- challenge petitions concerning children's education programming. In September 2004, OC, Inc. filed petitions to deny license renewals against two stations in the Washington, D.C., area, arguing that they failed to comply with FCC guidelines.

"These petitions and petitions OC, Inc. filed last September highlight that broadcasters throughout the country are not serving the educational and informational needs of children," says Jennifer L. Prime, staff attorney for the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center. "To send a message to these broadcasters the FCC should promptly enforce its rules and designate these petitions for hearing."

The UCC was formed in 1957 by the union of the Congregational Christian Churches in America and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. The UCC has almost 1.3 million members in 5,750 local congregations located throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.