United Church of Christ, September 18, 2007
By J. Bennett Guess

U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) was presented with the UCC's Everett C. Parker Award on Sept. 18 honoring her work on behalf of the public interest in telecommunications.

The honor is bestowed annually at the Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The award commemorates the significant contributions of Parker, a UCC minister, who has spent a lifetime championing issues of media access and justice on behalf of people of color and other underserved constituencies. Parker, who is 93, attended the 25th annual lecture and luncheon co-sponsored by the UCC's Office of Communication, Inc., which Parker founded in 1959, and the Telecommunication Research and Action Center (TRAC).

Snowe, who is the ranking Republican member on the Senate Commerce Committee, was recognized for her bipartisan leadership in telecommunications policy. Snowe was instrumental in establishing "e-rate," a federal program that enables schools and libraries to obtain affordable internet access. Without such a program, Snowe told the crowd of 200, "certainly the 'digital divide' would become the 'opportunity divide.'"

A strong voice opposing media consolidation, Snowe said the public interest is not being served because of fewer and fewer grassroots news-gathering outlets.

"We know we need more locally tailored media," Snowe said. "… If we diminish diversity, we diminish democracy."

Snowe spoke most forcefully about the need for "net neutrality," saying it would be unfair and unjust to allow certain companies or individuals to pay for faster delivery of their websites over others.

Also honored were Michelle Singletary, a columnist at The Washington Post, who received the TRAC Consumer Education Leadership Award, and Phyllis A. Eagle-Oldson, president and CEO of the Emma Bowen Foundation, who received the McGannon Award, which recognizes special contributions to advancing the role of people of color in the media.

The lecture, "A New Ethic for a New Media," was presented by the Rev. Robert Chase, founding director of Intersections, an organization in New York City, and the UCC's former director of communications. The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, served an emcee for the event. The benediction was given by the Rev. Peter B. Panagore, a UCC minister from Maine, who serves the First Radio Parish Church of America.

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