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 NEWS  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).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACTS  May  28,  2003  FCC:  Robin  Pence  (202)  418-  0505 
 HOMELAND  SECURITY:  INDUSTRY  LEADERS  CONSIDER  EMERGENCY  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  PUBLIC  WARNING  SYSTEM  RECOMMENDATIONS 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Leaders  from  the  broadcast,  cable  and  satellite  industries  today  began  consideration  of  best  practices  recommendations  to  ensure  effective  delivery  of 
 emergency  information  through  public  warning  systems. 
 The  recommendations  were  presented  to  members  of  the  Media  Security  and  Reliability  Council  (MSRC)  at  its  biannual  meeting  today  at  the  FCC.  The  41-  member  Federal  Advisory 
 Committee  will  complete  voting  on  these  recommendations  by  June  18,  2003. 
 FCC  Chairman  Michael  Powell  said,  “The  most  important  responsibility  the  government  and  media  share  during  times  of  crisis  is  to  ensure  the  safety  and  well-  being  of  our  citizens. 
 Making  sure  that  people  receive  urgent  information  that  is  timely  and  accurate  is  truly  a  life-saving  service  that  warrants  our  utmost  attention  and  support.  The  recommendations  we  have 
 seen  today  address  some  of  the  biggest  challenges  we  must  face  regarding  the  delivery  of  a  reliable  public  warning  system.” 


 Dennis  J.  FitzSimons,  MSRC  chairman  and  president  and  chief  executive  officer  of  Tribune  Company  said,  "September  11  was  a  wake-  up  call  for  all  concerned--  media,  interest 
 groups,  government.  We  have  to  review  what  works  and  what  doesn't.  We  simply  have  to  communicate  in  a  timely  and  accurate  fashion.  The  public  depends  on  us  and  we  must  come 
 through." 
 The  Public  Communications  and  Safety  working  group  presented  to  the  Council  its  interim  report  and  offered  for  consideration  twenty-  six  best  practices  recommendations  aimed  at 
 ensuring  the  effective  delivery  of  emergency  information  and  warnings  to  the  public. 
 Public  Communications  and  Safety  best  practices  recommendations  include: 
 €  A  single  federal  entity  should  be  responsible  for  public  warning  and  all-  hazard  risk  communication. 


 €  Effective  emergency  communications  should  be  achieved  through  a  public/  private  partnership. 
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 €  Local  and  state  governments  should  coordinate  with  media  to  create,  review  and  update  emergency  communications  procedures. 
 €  Local  media  should  form  emergency  jurisdiction/  market  cooperatives  to  assure  coordinated  delivery  of  local  emergency  messages  to  all  constituencies. 
 €  The  Emergency  Alert  System  should  be  periodically  tested,  upgraded  as  necessary  and  implemented  and  maintained  at  local,  state  and  national  levels. 
 €  Research  into  development  of  alternative,  redundant  and/  or  supplemental  means  of  communicating  emergency  information  to  the  public  should  be  accelerated. 
 €  Local  jurisdiction/  market  cooperatives  should  share  their  locally  developed  best  practices  for  coordination,  delivering  risk  communications  and  continuity  planning  under  crisis 
 conditions. 
 The  Communication  Infrastructure  Security,  Access  and  Restoration  working  group  also  presented  its  initial  recommendations  that  will  be  further  refined  at  the  November  6,  2003  MSRC 
 meeting. 
 Communications  Infrastructure  Security,  Access  and  Restoration  best  practices  recommendations  include: 


 €  National  media  companies  should  reassess  their  vulnerabilities  and  take  appropriate  measures  to  prevent  loss  of  service  and  expedite  rapid  recovery. 
 €  News  media  should  consider  agreements  to  allow  flexibility  in  local  use  and  retransmission  of  content  under  government  declared  emergencies. 
 €  Local  media  facilities  should  conduct  vulnerability  assessments  and  have  disaster  recovery  plans  that  are  periodically  reviewed,  updated  and  practiced. 
 €  Local  media  outlets  should  assess  their  collective  vulnerabilities  and  develop  cooperative  agreements  and  plans  to  ensure  some  media  remains  in  service  under  extreme  conditions. 
 €  Government  should  coordinate  the  creation  of  a  Media  Common  Alert  Protocol  to  deliver  emergency  messages  via  digital  networks. 
 Today  marked  the  third  and  mid-  term  meeting  of  the  Media  Security  and  Reliability  Council.  The  next  meeting  will  be  on  November  6,  2003  at  the  FCC. 
 MSRC  is  a  Federal  Advisory  Committee  that  reports  to  FCC  Chairman  Powell.  Chairman  Powell  formed  MSRC  following  the  events  of  September  11,  2001,  in  order  to  study, 
 develop  and  report  on  best  practices  designed  to  assure  the  optimal  reliability,  robustness  and  security  of  the  broadcast  and  multichannel  video  programming  distribution  industries. 
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