Public Interest Attorney to Head United Church of Christ's Media Justice Agency

20 August 2006

Cheryl A. Leanza, a public interest attorney and veteran First Amendment advocate, has been named managing director of the United Church of Christ's Office of Communications Inc., the church's historic media justice agency that first insisted that those holding Federal Communications Commission licenses must act on behalf of the public interest.

Leanza, a former deputy director of the Media Access Project, has served as principal legislative counsel for telecommunications at the National League of Cities since mid- 2005. She will succeed Gloria Tristani, a former FCC commissioner who left the church agency earlier this year to become president of the Benton Foundation, a leading voice in the media advocacy community.

Writing, advocating and litigating extensively in the areas of media ownership, access to the internet and the availability of low-power radio, Leanza has represented the public interest as lead counsel before the FCC and in U.S. Appellate courts. Most recently, Leanza led a lobbying effort at the center of the current telecommunications debate, seeking to ensure cable companies are accountable to local citizens. Leanza teaches First Amendment and broadcasting to graduate students at Georgetown University's Communications, Culture and Technology program.

"Having such a high profile person join our staff sends a message that the UCC is serious about its continued role in the fight for media justice," said the Rev. Robert Chase, the UCC's communications director.

"Cheryl brings tremendous assets to this position - intimate knowledge of nuances in media policy, instant credibility among her peers, practiced litigation and communication skills, experience in defending the public interest in broadcasting, and passion for ensuring that all segments of our society have voice in the media," Chase said. "We are thrilled to have her leading our media policy efforts, especially in the current time of unfolding technologies and media transition."

"I am delighted to join UCC's historic crusade for media justice," Leanza said. "This position will allow me to work on issues I care passionately about."

"I have always respected UCC's role in media reform advocacy," she said. "I look forward to working within the public interest community as part of a campaign to promote media democracy. Media shapes our views, lives, and politics. Media companies must be accountable."

Leanza graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School and simultaneously earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Michigan's Institute of Public Policy Studies. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Federal Communications Bar Association, and is admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia and New York; and in the United States Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits.

As an outgrowth of the UCC's historic commitment to civil rights, OC, Inc. was incorporated in 1959 to advocate on behalf of those who had been historically excluded from the media, especially people of color and women. During the civil rights movement, in a precedent-setting case, OC, Inc. challenged the broadcasting license of WLBT-TV in Jackson, Miss., for failing to serve its largely African-American audience.

"Since Cheryl has toiled on the front lines in the fight against media consolidation and in efforts to promote minority and female ownership, her presence signals a continuation of the historic work initiated by the Rev. Everett Parker almost half a century ago," Chase said.

The 1.2-million-member United Church of Christ was founded in 1957 with the union of the Congregational Christian Churches in America and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. It has about 5,600 churches nationwide.

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Source: usnewswire

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