FCC, FEMA Shorten Duration of National EAS Test and Seek Help Publicizing It
The U.S. government shortened the length of Wednesday’s emergency alert system nationwide test to 30 seconds from more than three minutes, a public noticed released by the FCC Thursday said. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shortening the duration of the test will achieve its two goals of testing the system while minimizing the potential disruption and chance for creating concern among the public. That’s something broadcasters and pay-TV providers have been working to remedy, along with the government (CD Oct 28 p12). FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on Friday asked EAS stakeholders for help educating the public about the exercise.
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The change may have come as a result of the NCTA’s request to push the test-date back, Pillsbury Winthrop attorney Scott Flick wrote on the firm’s blog. Pushing the date back so soon before the scheduled test could create a lot of confusion, while proceeding with the longer test ran the risk of hearing-impaired cable viewers believing there was actual emergency because the video portion of the alert doesn’t indicate that it’s a test, he said. Broadcasters plan to insert a crawl message on the screen to alert viewers of the test, but not all cable systems are equipped to do that, an Oct. 21 letter from NCTA CEO Michael Powell to Fugate said. It’s “possible the that FEMA’s decision to shorten the test is a pragmatic compromise between either delaying the test or scaring the daylights out of the deaf and hard of hearing community,” Flick said.
The FCC and FEMA are aware of the limitations of the EAS system and have focused outreach efforts to help make sure that the public knows what to expect when the test occurs, Fugate and Genachowski said in an open letter to EAS stakeholders (http://xrl.us/bmhu5e). “In particular, we have conducted extensive outreach to the deaf and hard of hearing community to alert them about the test, including the technical limitations with the visual message, particularly with respect to cable television,” they said. The pair asked for help getting that message across: “We particularly request that you provide information to people who are deaf and hard of hearing, people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities and mental health concerns, senior citizens and people with limited English proficiency."
The FCC public notice directed EAS participants to visit the Public Safety Bureau’s webpage for “additional announcements of significant developments” affecting the test. “But don’t expect things there to be totally up-to-the-minute,” Fletcher Heald attorney Harry Cole wrote on that firm’s blog Thursday night. “The notice about the shortening of the test still did not appear to have been posted there nearly four hours after its release.”