logo
Published on Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (http://www.citizensforethics.org)

C-SPAN: prayer breakfast "not an official government event"

By Matt Jacob
Created 4 Feb 2010 - 9:36am

This morning's National Prayer Breakfast is winding down. Even though C-SPAN chose to telecast this event, it's encouraging that they disclosed a few critical facts about the breakfast.

Whether C-SPAN did so in response to CREW's request (made in this letter [1]) or simply acted on its own, the network posted the name of the sponsoring organization -- the shadowy and disturbing Fellowship Foundation [2], also known as "The Family." At a few points, C-SPAN also posted the words "not an official government event" on the screen for TV viewers to see. Up until now, many Americans have incorrectly assumed it was a government-sponsored event.

A host of media have covered the concerns raised by CREW about the prayer breakfast, including the New York Times [3], CNN [4] and The Hill [5] newspaper.

CREW's Melanie Sloan told the Times that CREW is in no way suggesting the Fellowship should not "be allowed to hold their breakfast; of course they should. The question is: Should American officials be lending legitimacy to it, giving their imprimatur by showing up."

Click here [6] to read CREW's letter urging President Obama and members of Congress not to attend the event.

Click here [7] to read our letter to C-SPAN asking the network not to broadcast the Fellowship-sponsored breakfast or, at the very least, to provide proper context so the public realizes this is not an official government event.


Source URL:
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/44083