Campaign Against Hate Speech in the Media
Click here to ask for more information about this project:
Website:
Topics:
Advertising/Commercialism, Content, Media Literacy/Education, Public/Community media, Regulation, Youth
Budget
Raised to date: $25,000.00
Estimate to complete: $75,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $100,000.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 05/07/2009
Key Personnel
Inez Gonzalez
Executive Vice President
Inez González is the Executive Vice President of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), a non-profit advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the image of American Latinos as portrayed by the media, increase the number of American Latinos employed in all facets of the media industry, and advocate for media and telecommunication policies that benefit the Latino community.
Previous to joining NHMC, Inez was the District Director for Congressman Bob Filner (D-51) overseeing the management and operations of two district offices that served over 650,000 constituents. Her professional experience also includes tenures as Public Relations & Communications Manager for a California Health Management Organization, and Contract Compliance Officer for the public transportation agency in San Diego, where she managed Equal Opportunity Programs for the agency.
Inez is a fellow of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Leadership Training Institute, the Women’s Policy Institute program of the California’s Women Foundation, and the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI). She is an Executive Board Member of the Media and Democracy Coalition (MADC), a collaboration of over two dozen local and national organizations committed to amplifying the public's voice in shaping media and telecommunications policy.
Inez has served as Board Member of San Diego MANA in several capacities, including serving as Vice President of Operations. Inez has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the University of San Diego and a Master’s in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix.
Funders
| Name | Amount | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media Democracy Fund | $20,000.00 | 01/16/2009 | |
| Social Science Research Council | $5,000.00 | 06/20/2008 |
Short Synopsis
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is developing a national campaign against hate speech in media. We have brought together a roundtable of allies to come up with legally defensible remedies to address this issue. We have also identified grassroots organizations interested in working on this issue. Public and political pressure is necessary to move the policy agenda forward at the FCC and NTIA.
Description/Treatment
In September 2008, looking for wide consensus on possible solutions to hate speech in media that are respectful of the first amendment, NHMC invited allies to participate in roundtable discussions on the issue of hate speech and its role in hate crimes.
The roundtable, is comprised of some of the most credible and nationally-recognized organizations in the area of human and civil rights: the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others.
The roundtable gathered on three occasions in late 2008 and resulted in the creation of the following Working Groups: 1) FCC strategy; 2) Advertising; 3) Moral Campaign; 4) Local Boycott Campaign; 5) First Amendment and 6) Civil Litigation.
The peak of the roundtable’s work came in January, 2009 with a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C, where a three-prong strategy to address hate speech in the media was unveiled:
1) NHMC presented preliminary findings of a pilot study to quantify hate speech in commercial talk radio by the UCLA/Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC). The UCLA/CSRC is the premiere Chicano research institution in the nation, headed by Chon Noriega, CSRC Director and Professor in the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media. The research suggests that there are four different types of hate speech directed at vulnerable groups and social institutions perceived to be in collusion with them: false facts, flawed argumentation, divisive language, and dehumanizing metaphors.
2) NHMC filed a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) petition for inquiry into hate speech in media written by the Institute for Public Representation (IPR). IPR is a public interest law firm and clinical education program at Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C. It has been collaborating with NHMC and other civil rights groups to address the issue of hate speech while simultaneously respecting First Amendment freedoms.
3) Finally, NHMC officially requested that the Secretary of Commerce, or in the alternative, Congress, direct the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to update its 1993 report “The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crime.” We anticipate that an updated report that uses scientific methodologies will determine that there are causal relationships between hate speech on radio/TV and violence against vulnerable groups.
Public and political pressure is necessary to achieve the campaign's short-term goals: to have the FCC open an inquiry on hate speech in media and have the NTIA agree to update its 1993 report. Grassroots organizations have indicated an interest in being part of this campaign, along with our national partners.
We are seeking additional funding to provide local organizations with the information and support to create their own Hate Speech in Media campaigns. The working groups from the roundtable need to be activated as well. More research is also necessary on the negative impact of hate speech to local communities and on possible correlations between hate speech in media and where hate crimes occur.
Click here to ask for more information about this project: