PN on 2005 MMTC Designated-Hitter Multilingual EAS Plan Seen Showing FCC Ready to Act
The FCC seems poised to propose rules for broadcasters to help non-English language stations knocked off-air during emergencies transmit emergency alert system messages, said industry and other EAS observers. They said that the Public Safety Bureau issued a public notice now on a 2005 proposal for such a designated-hitter backup plan from groups including the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council is among indications FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants to act. Wheeler, on the other hand, may not have made up his mind, and the item could also be used to surface industry opposition to requiring multilingual alerts by radio and TV stations, said an EAS expert. That view was in the minority among those we interviewed Wednesday.
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The notice was the first time the agency asked questions in a document devoted entirely to the MMTC proposal, said MMTC Executive Director David Honig. Some broadcast officials told us they would oppose such a mandate. The notice said that industry, cable operators and EAS equipment makers have deemed it impractical. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn commended Wheeler for the PN and said (http://bit.ly/1cyJK2k) “responses to these questions will help the Commission craft specific rules, if necessary.” NAB, NCTA and a bureau spokeswoman had no comment for this story.
A December meeting with bureau officials where MMTC updated (http://bit.ly/1iBqvUj) its proposal and technological changes to EAS such as the transition to Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) are among reasons to update the record in docket 04-296, said the notice (http://bit.ly/1lBhagR) issued at about 5 p.m. Tuesday. Comments are due 30 days after the PN appears in the Federal Register, replies 15 days later. The bureau asked a few dozen questions about the feasibility of the backup plan where a nearby station would broadcast multilingual emergency information if a non-English language station couldn’t. Each broadcaster should know its role and which station it would rely on for multilingual service, and broadcasters “could check a box during license renewal to certify to their understanding and role in the state or community plan,” said MMTC’s December ex parte filing.
An “alternative” approach in the notice in which state EAS plans would reflect a designated-hitter approach and broadcasters “would not be subject to a separate planning requirement” was opposed by Honig. “A non-mandatory plan is a non-starter,” he told us. “Every other emergency broadcasting requirement is mandated.” The now-defunct Independent Spanish Broadcasters Association, MMTC and United Church of Christ made the initial request shortly after Hurricane Katrina knocked out Spanish-language broadcasting for about 100,000 people, said Honig. “What we've asked the FCC to do is neither burdensome nor unfair,” Honig said now. “There is no issue more morally compelling before the FCC than multilingual emergency broadcasting."
Broadcasters in states including Florida already issue Spanish-language alerts in conjunction with English warnings, and the notice sought comment on how that works. It asked whether states with CAP alerting systems issue alerts in languages other than English, and whether text-to-speech technology or other translation tech can provide multilingual warnings. Many state and federal agencies haven’t been distributing alerts in the newer CAP format that uses the Internet to send warnings to stations through a Federal Emergency Management Agency Web-based alert distribution system (CD Sept 17/12 p5). FEMA had no comment for this story.
It may be both unnecessary and impractical to require multilingual EAS duty-sharing among stations in each market, said broadcast industry officials. The PN noted that broadcast stakeholders have said a designated-hitter system would require keeping staff on hand to translate emergency information from the downed station. It could also be tricky to define a coverage area for each geographic-based group of designated hitters, said industry lawyer Paul Cicelski of Pillsbury Winthrop. “There are all these practical issues to be concerned with."
Making broadcasters “do things like this has never been needed,” said Louisiana State Emergency Communications Committee Chairman Richard Petty, who works at Clear Channel. “I do not think that it ever would” be needed, he said. “The amount of help that broadcasters have given to each other shows that a rule or requirement seems unnecessary.” Stations generally “are committed to as wide dissemination as possible” of EAS alerts, said Cicelski. -- Jonathan Make (jmake@warren-news.com)