A group composed of more than 30 organizations has sent a letter to the FCC claiming that the Internet has made it harder for the public to distinguish facts from “bigotry masquerading as news”. 

The organizations also charge that syndicated radio and cable television programs “masquerading as news” use hate as a profit model.

The name of the group is the Natinal Hispanic Media Coalition.  With a name like that, one would immediately assume that it was formed to try to make us all say “undocumented” instead of “illegal”.   However, there’s more to this coalition than their publically stated ambition.

Per the letter:

“As traditional media have become less diverse and less competitive, they have also grown less responsible and less responsive to the communities that they are supposed to serve. In this same atmosphere hate speech thrives, as hate has developed as a profit-model for syndicated radio and cable television program masquerading as ‘news.’

The organizations also argue that the anonymous nature of the Internet gives ammunition to those that would spread hate.

They did not have the courage to mention any specific programming on the right or the left.  Their letter was written to support a petition filed by the National Hispanic Media Coalition last year requesting a probe of the relationship between hate speech and hate crimes.

The letter further states that:

The Internet gives the illusion that news sources have increased, but in fact there are fewer journalists employed now than ever before. Moreover, on the Internet, speakers can hide in the cloak of anonymity, emboldened to say things that they may not say in the public eye.

For these reasons, as the Commission deliberates how the public interest will be served in the digital age, it should consider the extent of hate speech in media, and its effects.

Who is this group?  Per their own description:

NHMC is a non-profit, media advocacy organization established in 1986 in Los Angeles, California.  The organization has grown to have statewide chapters in Sacramento, San Jose and San Diego, CA; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Phoenix, AZ; Atlanta, GA; and Detroit, MI.

Our mission is to 1) improve the image of American Latinos as portrayed by the media; 2) increase the number of American Latinos employed in all facets of the media industry; and 3) advocate for media and telecommunications policies that benefit the Latino community.

As the Secretariat for the National Latino Media Council (NLMC), an umbrella of 16 of the largest national Latino organizations, NHMC executes NLMC’s national strategy on media advocacy as it relates to Latinos. 

Members of this coalition include Free Press, the Center for Media Justice, the Benton Foundation and Media Alliance, United Church of Christ, Inc., and Rainbow Push Coalition. 

 Free Press –   Founded in 2002 by avowed Marxist Robert McChesney, Free Press seeks to transform the media landscape – on radio, television and the internet – via (amongst other ways) sweeping rules changes at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Changes that would dramatically decrease private ownership of the means of news and information delivery, with the federal government assuming an ever greater replacement role.

The Center for Media Justice – Very active in stoking the flames of the Oscar Grant Oakland demonstrations, this group was founded by Malkia Cyril, their Executive Director.  Let’s allow their own website to provide a description of her, shall we?  Remember, these are their words, not mine:

Malkia Amala Cyril is CMJ’s founder and Executive Director. Malkia’s history as a media and movement strategist is informed by h/er organizing and communications work at We Interrupt This Message and the Applied Research Center, the Community Organizing Team, Youth Together, and the Youth Force Coalition in the San Francisco Bay Area.

As a queer, working-class African-Am/Caribbean born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Malkia’s belief in media change as a core strategy for social justice is based in her experience as the daughter of a Black Panther mom: “I watched how media bias helped destroy a movement, and I believe in the power of strategic stories to help raise it again.”

Malkia is the author of numerous articles on movement building, political organizing, strategic communications, and media policy change, and creative works in anthologies such as Aloud, Afrekete, and In the Tradition. As an artist, organizer, and communications strategist, Malkia hopes h/er leadership and commitment to struggle speaks beautifully and humbly for itself.

The Benton Foundation and Media Alliance –   Per namac.org:

The mission of the Benton Foundation is to articulate a public interest vision for the digital age and to demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. Current priorities include: promoting a vision and policy alternatives for the digital age in which the benefit to the public is paramount; raising awareness among funders and nonprofits on their stake in critical policy issues; enabling communities and nonprofits to produce diverse and locally responsive media content.The Benton Foundation seeks to articulate a public interest vision for the digital age and to demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems.

United Church of Christ, Inc. – Does the name Rev. Jeremiah Wright ring a bell?  Trinity Church is a member of this denomination.  They practice Black Liberation Theology.  They believe that Jesus was a revolutionary figure like Che, but they do not believe in the Resurrection of Christ.

Rainbow Push Coalition – Founded by Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1971, a result of the Rainbow Coalition merging with People United to Save Humanity.   They trace their history back to Operation Breadbasket, founded by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, which sought to combine theology and social justice, and to effect progressive economic, educational, and social policy in America.

To summarize, you have a bunch of Liberals trying to shut down Free Speech in the name of Social Justice.  They cannot compete with Conservatism in the arena of political discussion.  Therefore, they must shut down all communications of a Conservative ideological nature.  Otherwise, average Americans might feel those long dormant stirrings of freedom and patriotism again, and actually start thinking for themselves.   Once Americans start behaving like that, Far Left organizations like these will lose their base, and, more importantly to the leaders, their funding. 

So, since Liberal ideology cannot win against Conservative ideology, these people want to take away Conservatism’s chance to compete for the hearts and minds of Americans.

How noble.

Sources:  drudgereport.com, the hill.com, centerformediajustice.org, namac.org, rainbowpush.org