Your WBA and the other 49 State Broadcasters Associations joined together in filing comments with the FCC in connection with MMTC’s “designated hitter” proposal. Under that proposal, MMTC (Minority Media and Telecommunications Council) is asking the FCC, in essence, to require English language radio and television stations to provide foreign language emergency information when, for example, a foreign language station in the market becomes inoperable during an emergency.
The State Associations told the Commission that we supported the concept of “designated hitter” compacts in which station licensees choose voluntarily to enter into formal or informal arrangements with each other, under which one station would agree to provide additional emergency information coverage in the language of the foreign language station, in the event that the foreign language station’s on-air operations were interrupted during an emergency. We also stated that MMTC’s proposal warrants careful consideration by the various state and local emergency management authorities, working with their local broadcasters and other communications providers, to determine the feasibility of such compacts on a voluntary, case by case basis.
However, the State Associations emphasized that with respect to EAS alerts, broadcast stations were not the originators, only the conduits for distribution of the alerts to the general public, and therefore the Commission should consider using its resources and prestige to convince Federal, state and local emergency management authorities, including the National Weather Service, to provide multilingual EAS alerts. We also raised First Amendment concerns, and identified the potential financial costs and legal risks that an English language station would face if it were required to provide foreign language emergency information.
The State Associations also pointed out that a second National EAS Test should be the federal government’s top priority for fear that multilingual EAS alerting may complicate matters at a time when “getting it right” in English should be the first priority of our nation.
