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 NEWS  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  News  Media  Contact: 
 December  13,  2001  Audrey  Spivack  202-  418-  0512 


 REVISED  PRESS  RELEASE 
 FCC  PROPOSES  NEW  EQUAL  EMPLOYMENT  OPPORTUNITY  (EEO)  RULES 
 FOR  BROADCAST  AND  CABLE 


 Washington,  D.  C.  –  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  adopted  a  Second 
 Notice  of  Proposed  Rule  Making  seeking  comments  on  new  equal  employment  opportunity 
 (EEO)  rules  for  broadcast  and  cable,  including  multichannel  video  program  distributors 
 (MVPDs).  The  Commission  reaffirmed  the  Commission’s  long-  standing  anti-  discrimination  rule 
 and  proposed  to  require  broad  outreach  to  all  qualified  job  candidates  for  positions  at  radio, 
 television  and  cable  companies. 


 The  proposed  rules  respond  to  the  D.  C.  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  decision  in  2001  in 
 DC/  MD/  DE  Broadcasters  Association  v.  FCC  (Association)  which  held  that  a  portion  of  the 
 outreach  requirements  of  the  broadcast  EEO  rule  adopted  in  2000  was  unconstitutional.  The 
 former  rule  provided  two  recruitment  options,  which  were  referred  to  as  “Option  A”  and  “Option 
 B.”  The  Court  found  no  statutory  or  constitutional  infirmity  with  Option  A.  However,  it  found 
 that  Option  B  was  unconstitutional.  Even  though  the  Court  found  only  Option  B 
 unconstitutional,  it  vacated  the  Commission’s  EEO  rules.  The  Court  concluded  that  the  two 
 options  could  not  be  readily  severed. 


 The  Commission  stated  that  it  is  important  to  have  EEO  rules  that  prohibit  discrimination 
 in  broadcast  and  cable  employment  and  also  require  broadcasters  and  cable  entities  to  reach  out 
 to  all  segments  of  the  community  in  filling  vacancies.  The  proposed  new  rules  require  broadcast 
 licensees  to  widely  disseminate  information  about  job  openings  to  all  segments  of  the 
 community  to  ensure  that  all  qualified  applicants  have  sufficient  opportunity  to  compete  for  jobs 
 in  the  broadcast  industry.  The  Commission  also  proposes  new  EEO  rules  applicable  to  cable 
 entities,  including  MVPDs,  to  conform  them,  as  much  as  possible,  to  the  broadcast  EEO  rule. 


 In  addition  to  requiring  broadcasters  and  cable  entities,  including  MVPDs  to  recruit  for 
 every  full-  time  vacancy  in  a  manner  designed  to  achieve  broad  outreach,  the  proposed  rules 
 would  require  the  implementation  of  two  supplemental  recruitment  measures:  (1)  sending  job 
 vacancy  announcements  to  recruitment  organizations  that  request  them;  and  (2)  selecting  from  a 
 menu  of  non-  vacancy  specific  outreach  approaches,  such  as  job  fairs,  internship  programs,  and 
 interaction  with  educational  and  community  groups. 
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 Broadcast  stations  with  fewer  than  five  full-  time  employees  and  cable  entities,  including 
 MVPDs,  with  fewer  than  six  full-  time  employees  in  the  past  have  not  been  required  to 
 demonstrate  compliance  with  the  EEO  program  requirements.  The  Second  Notice  requests 
 comments  as  to  whether  these  exemptions  can  or  should  be  increased.  The  proposed  rules  would 
 require  all  other  broadcasters  and  cable  entities  to  place  an  annual  EEO  report  in  their  public  file 
 detailing  their  outreach  efforts.  Under  the  Commission’s  former  rule,  broadcasters  were  required 
 to  file  a  Statement  of  Compliance  every  second,  fourth  and  sixth  year  of  the  license  term 
 certifying  compliance  with  the  EEO  rule.  The  proposed  rules  would  eliminate  this  requirement 
 in  the  second  and  sixth  years  and  require  a  filing  only  by  radio  stations  with  more  than  ten  full-time 
 employees  and  television  stations  with  five  or  more  full-  time  employees,  which  would  be 
 subject  to  mid-  term  review  of  their  EEO  efforts,  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  license  term.  Cable 
 entities  would  be  required  to  file  annual  reports  concerning  their  EEO  efforts  and  to  submit  their 
 annual  EEO  public  file  reports  as  part  of  the  supplemental  information  required  by  statute  to  be 
 filed  every  five  years. 


 The  Commission  also  proposes  to  retain  the  requirement  that  broadcasters  and  cable 
 entities  file  annual  employment  reports.  The  Commission  would  use  the  information  in  the 
 annual  employment  reports  only  to  monitor  industry  employment  trends  and  prepare  reports  to 
 Congress.  Nevertheless,  the  Commission  welcomes  comments  on  whether  the  forms  can  or 
 should  be  revised. 


 Action  by  the  Commission  December  12,  2001,  by  Second  Notice  of  Proposed  Rule 
 Making  (FCC  01-  363).  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps,  and  Martin,  with 
 Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Copps  and  Martin  issuing  separate  statements. 


 -FCC-Mass 


 Media  Bureau  contacts:  Roy  Boyce  (202)  418-  1450;  Lewis  Pulley  (418-  1450);  and 
 Estella  Salvatierra  (418-  1450). 


 MM  Docket  98-  204. 
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