Telecommunications Leaders to be Honored for Promoting Public Interest, Diversity in Media

The United Church of Christ’s Office of Communication Inc. today announced the honorees it will recognize at the 30th Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture and Breakfast on September 25, 2012:

• Charles Benton, chairman of the board of the Benton Foundation, will receive the Everett C. Parker Award in recognition of his many years of leadership and support for promoting the public interest in traditional and digital media.
• S. Jenell Trigg, chair of the Intellectual Property and New Media and Technology Practice Group of the law firm of Lerman Senter PLLC, will receive the Donald H. McGannon Award in recognition of her work to promote opportunities in telecommunications media for women and persons of color.

OC Inc., the media justice advocacy arm of the United Church of Christ, previously announced that the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. will deliver this year’s Parker Lecture, the only lecture in the country that examines telecommunications in the digital age from an ethical perspective. The annual Parker Lecture and Awards event was created in 1981 to recognize the Rev. Dr. Everett C. Parker’s pioneering work as an advocate for the public interest in broadcasting. This year’s Parker Lecture will be held at 8 a.m. on September 25 at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 945 G Street NW in Washington, DC.