ELCA NEWS SERVICE October 19, 2009 ELCA Communication Services Joins '2009 Media Violence Fast' 09-230-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Communication Services unit, along with a diverse coalition of faith communication organizations, is part of the 2009 Media Violence Fast. The Fast is a movement of thousands of people across the United States who work to abstain from violence on television and radio, at least for one week. This year's seven-day emphasis, Oct. 19-26, asks interfaith participants to consider the affect of anti-immigrant speech in the media. "For one week we are asking people to be deliberate in choosing non violent media sources for entertainment, especially programming promoted as unbiased news that is, in fact, hate speech against immigrants," said Kristi S. Bangert, executive director, ELCA Communication Services. "Our participation in the Media Violence Fast can help focus attention on the possible connection between hate speech and violent hate crimes while providing a platform for increased public engagement with this pressing issue," she added. The anti-violence fast is sponsored by the So We Might See Coalition, an interfaith group formed earlier this year with support from ELCA Communication Services, U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops Office of Communications, Islamic Society of North America, United Methodist Communications, United Church of Christ Office of Communication Inc., Presbyterian News Service and other faith groups. During the week, participants may sign a petition to the Federal Communications Commission asking that it open a notice of inquiry into hate speech in the media. The coalition is also urging the National Telecommunications and Information Agency to update its 1993 report, "The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes." "We are concerned about this issue because of the possible connection between hate speech and violent hate crimes and the lack of information for members of the public concerned about the issue," said the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, executive director, United Church of Christ's Office of Communication, Inc. Guess is helping to staff the coalition's work. The coalition is expressing particular concern about the frequency and tone of anti-immigrant remarks made by several TV and radio commentators, such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and Lou Dobbs, it said in a news release. According to the most recent FBI hate crimes statistics, while hate crimes against all other groups have been holding steady or declining, hate crimes against Latinos have been increasing over the past four years, the release said. The So We Might See Coalition's decision to focus its third annual fast on anti-immigrant hate speech comes in support of the Latinos Against Hate Speech campaign organized by the National Hispanic Media Coalition. --- More information is at http://www.MediaViolenceFast.org or http://www.SoWeMightSee.org on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog