As expected, the UCC has filed an appeal with the Federal Communications Commission following a staff-level decision in August to dismiss license-renewal challenges by the UCC that came after CBS and NBC network executives deemed the church's inclusive ads "too controversial" to air on TV.

The Sept. 6 "application for review" was submitted to the FCC by the Office for Communication, Inc. (OC, Inc.), the UCC's media justice agency. It argues that, since networks do not hold licenses, networks can only be held accountable if their wholly-owned stations can be challenged.

In its August decision, FCC staff denied the UCC's challenges to the licenses of NBC Universal's WTVJ-TV and CBS' WFOR-TV, both in Miami, saying the local stations — despite being owned by the networks — should not be held accountable for network-level decisions.

"We are appealing the staff-level decision to the full Federal Communications Commission," says Cheryl Leanza, an attorney and managing director of OC, Inc. "We are confident that the staff overstepped its bounds, ignored the law and denied us the opportunity to be heard. We will pursue this matter vigorously."

Andrew J. Schwartzman, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Media Access Project and one of the attorneys representing the UCC, says, "This is clearly an erroneous decision that acts to shield the networks from public scrutiny. It has far-reaching implications, far beyond the issue of religious tolerance."

The church's appeal argues that the most-recent decision "impairs the Commission's ability to administer its policies."

"The effect of these decisions is to remove Commission authority to examine network programming practices in the context of license renewal proceedings of network-owned and operated stations," the appellate request reads.

The initial FCC challenges were filed by the UCC in 2004 after the networks refused to air the UCC's all-inclusive "God is still speaking" ads that promote religious tolerance. The Miami stations were challenged, because the south Florida market included two network-owned stations impacted by the networks' far-reaching decisions.

"Even individual and groups beyond the UCC agree that a variety of religious viewpoints should be given voice through our mass media, especially one that speaks to Christ's extravagant welcome," says the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president. "Today's media falls woefully short in this regard."