RELIGIOUS LEADERS APPLAUD GM'S SALE OF HUGHES ELECTRONICS

April 14, 2003
For Immediate Release
Contact:

Maryam Kubasek
Director of Media Relations
National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families
Religious Alliance Against Pornography
513/521-6227, ext. 111

The Religious Alliance Against Pornography and the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families applaud General Motors for selling Hughes Electronics, parent of DirecTV, to News Corp. According to news sources, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch will pay $6.6 billion in cash and stock for a controlling stake in Hughes Electronics.

Leaders from RAAP and the National Coalition have spent considerable time and energy trying to persuade GM leaders that their ownership of DirecTV, which offers hard-core pornography, was a legitimization of a harmful and dirty business. Religious leaders sent letters to G. Richard Wagoner Jr., CEO of GM; met with Attorney General John Ashcroft in December, asking him to pursue appropriate obscenity prosecutions, even if they involved white-collar pornographers; and enlisted the support of tens of thousands of people of faith.

"We are so grateful for the many concerned citizens who signed petitions and wrote letters to General Motors," said Jerry Kirk, founder and chairman of the National Coalition and co-chairman of the Religious Alliance.

He noted that although the sale will probably not be final until the end of the year, the National Coalition and RAAP have asked people of faith to no longer sign petitions or send letters of protest but to thank General Motors for getting out of the pornography business.

Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the National Coalition, points out that GM's sale of Hughes Electronics is a small victory in a larger battle. "Pornography continues to destroy the lives of many in our country," he said. "We remain committed to shining the light on big corporations who make a profit from this material and to raising public awareness that pornography always has been and always will be an exploitive and harmful business."

The Religious Alliance Against Pornography is an inter-faith alliance of religious leaders from a variety of liberal and conservative faith groups. The National Coalition helps people live better lives free from the influences of pornography and the sexualized messages of the culture.