MMTC Wants Broadcasters to 'Afflict the Comfortable'

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision they see as severely undercutting the Voting Rights Act, the Minority Media and Telecommunications will call on their friends in broadcasting to keep a spotlight on voting issues.

MMTC President David Honig said that his group would be pushing broadcasters to do for voting rights what they did back in 1964 (when the Act was originally passed), which was to "afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted." Honig said that the FCC had historically had "feet of clay" when it came to diversity and entrepreneurship opportunities for women and minorities. He said Acting FCC Chair Mignon Clyburn was wonderful, and clearly understood the importance of the issue -- she is the first African-American woman to chair the commission -- but that there was only so much she could do as acting chair. He also suggested the future could be brighter, saying that the president's nominee for chairman, Tom Wheeler, had a "long and illustrious career in diversity."