FCC May Make TV Stations, Cable Use New Emergency Standard
The FCC may require pay-TV providers and broadcasters to use a new emergency alert standard to relay govt. information on disasters, said agency and industry officials. The FCC seems set to adopt an emergency alert system (EAS) order (CD May 18 p9) at the Thurs. agenda meeting that will require use of common alerting protocol (CAP) -- once FEMA is done working on the system. CAP allows distribution of a single warning message by multiple sources including cable systems, radio and TV. The U.S. govt. permitted CAP testing in 2005. Last-min. 8th floor negotiations on the emergency alert rulemaking’s wording concern how to address multilingual alerts, said media advocacy, broadcast and FCC officials.
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The FCC order would maintain the emergency alert “status quo,” since cable operators, broadcasters and DBS providers still would have to convey govt. information, said an agency official. The rulemaking notes the limits of satellite radio and TV providers’ ability to tailor warnings to particular areas, since they're national services, said the official. But DBS providers would be required to use CAP once FEMA takes further action, said the Commission official. FEMA expects to complete CAP testing in Dec., an agency spokeswoman said, describing it as a “very broad standard” likely to be used in other countries. In early 2008, FEMA hopes to release guidelines on the standard, the official said. Testing must be “very thorough in order to meet a multitude of possible” uses, she added.
The FCC order would require broadcasters and pay-TV providers to carry warnings by governors and other state officials, which stations now do voluntarily, said agency and industry sources. Commission rules now require only that broadcasters pass along presidential emergency alerts, said industry and agency officials. The FCC order doesn’t say how wireless providers should distribute alerts, said agency officials. The order defers to the congressional WARN Act, said an FCC source.
By waiting for FEMA, the FCC avoids for now a debate on whether CAP is the best way to send alerts on catastrophes, particularly to non-English speakers. Broadcasters have backed use of CAP, which proponents have contended eliminates the hassles of using several systems and may be more financially efficient as well, said an industry official. Some advocates fear adopting the standard would mean alerts are presented in a “robotic” voice devoid of inflection, they said. Using electronics instead of people to produce warnings may get meanings lost in translation, said an activist. “Emergency messages and in-depth emergency information need to be provided to significant [sized] groups in their own languages by speakers who can provide context,” said a Sun. Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) filing: “There is a place in EAS planning for translations, but primary reliance in an emergency should be placed on in- language broadcast radio communication in the human voice.”
Advocates fear relying on CAP alone to alert non-English speakers could lead to a repeat of the Hurricane Katrina experience. During that storm, about 50,000 Hispanics in New Orleans didn’t get emergency information because the market’s only Spanish-language station, KGLA(AM) Gretna, La., went off the air. Katrina prompted the MMTC, United Church of Christ (UCC) and others to ask the FCC in Sept. 2005 to order that stations provide information in varying languages during emergencies if non-English language broadcasters stop transmitting. The advocates cited a system used by the Fla. Assn. of Bcstrs. as a model; there, a designated broadcaster agrees to air Spanish alerts when a Spanish-language station goes off the air. FCC intervention is needed because states other than Fla. haven’t addressed the problem, said UCC Managing Dir. Cheryl Leanza. Broadcasters support better “access and relay” of federal, state and local emergency communications, NAB officials told Comr. Adelstein last week, according to an ex parte filing: “We emphasized that any new regulations should be of a pragmatic nature.”
FCC Chmn. Martin dismissed the multilingual petition in a draft order his office circulated weeks ago on the 8th floor, said a Commission official. Some commissioners are trying to ensure the issues raised in the petition are addressed, we're told. But that likely would require the FCC to defer acting on the MMTC-UCC petition, said FCC officials. The Commission may set a short deadline for NAB, MMTC and others to agree on a way to alert non-English speakers of emergencies, said FCC officials. Broadcaster and advocacy lawyers told us they are open to such talks. Broadcasters want state govts. to provide the warnings rather than take responsibility for translations, said a 2nd industry source. But broadcasters in other states are willing to use the Fla. system as a model, the source said. Leanza agreed there’s room for compromise. “I'm hopeful the Commission wont reject UCC’s petition and I believe there is room to talk with the industry,” she said: “My concern is the FCC hasn’t given opportunities for the parties to come up with a joint proposal for the Commission, given that the meeting is on Thursday.” - Jonathan Make