Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER GEOFFREY STARKS

Re: 	Amendment of Section 73.3580 of the Commission's Rules Regarding Public Notice of the Filing of Applications, MB Docket No. 17-264; Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, MB Docket No. 17-105; Revision of the Public Notice Requirements of Section 73.3580, MB Docket No. 05-6.

As I’ve noted in the past, without public input this agency would have a hard time doing its job.  We rely on the expertise and experience of folks across this country to make rules, consider transactions, and determine whether our licensees are meeting their obligations.  Making sure the public is adequately aware of opportunities to share their experiences with us is a critical part of this process.  I fully support today’s item, which will allow us to further develop a record on how to best exercise our statutory mandate to ensure that the public has notice of proceedings involving our consideration of broadcast licenses. 

I am pleased that this item recognizes that local public notice of licensing activity is required by statute, and searches for ways to use modern tools to make it more effective.  Specifically, I support the item’s proposals to continue to require both on-air and written notice of certain licensing proceedings, and questions on the best way to offer such notice online.  I am hopeful that a robust record will develop on these issues. 

To that end, I successfully proposed a number of questions in today’s item pertaining to whether we can also harness additional tools that are used in other contexts to make sure that these notices are reaching as many people as possible in local communities.  Namely, I hope to hear from commenters on whether tools that have been deployed in the repacking context, such as social media posts, mobile app notifications, and television text “crawls,” can help make sure that local audiences are fully aware of opportunities to share their experiences with the Commission.  I am particularly intrigued by the possibility of using social media posts or mobile apps as these platforms are typically more accessible for those who rely on mobile devices rather than a home broadband connection.  As these notices move out of newspapers and onto websites, we need to do all that we can to make sure that we continue to reach communities that may not be fully connected.

Further, I successfully proposed questions about whether to retain information about our public interest standard in certain on-air scripts, whether to require broadcasters to disclose any rule waivers they are seeking in these notices, and whether to retain some description of the issues at stake when an application is designated for hearing.  In my view, all of this information would add much needed context for viewers and listeners and help them better understand the nature of our proceedings. 

With these additional questions, and robust public input on the other proposals in this item, I am hopeful that we will develop a record that will help us bring these rules into the 21st century while remaining true to the directives in our statute.  I appreciate the Chairman’s engagement and willingness to include my revisions, and the support of my colleagues.  I also appreciate the hard work of the Media Bureau in preparing this item and advancing this proceeding.
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