FCC Clarifies Filing Requirement for News Sharing During COVID-19 Emergency
Temporary shared newsgathering agreements for coverage of COVID-19 don’t need to be drawn up in writing and posted to station public files, said the FCC Media Bureau in a guidance public notice Thursday. “As a result of the fluid and…
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challenging nature of covering the outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we understand that broadcast stations may be engaging in the sharing of news and news gathering resources in order to cover the emergency news event,” said the PN. Those sorts of arrangements don’t demonstrate a sharing arrangement that would need to be disclosed under the agency’s rules for shared-service agreements, the PN said. “We note, however, that ordinary sharing agreements not arising from the emergency would continue to be subject to the filing requirement.” Agreements that persist after the COVID-19 emergency would need to be documented and filed, the PN said.