The radio industry is giving a cool response to a Federal Communications Commission proposal that would require participation in the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) during emergencies. In addition to turning that voluntary program into a mandated one, the rulemaking proposal (PS Dockets No. 21-346) adopted in January also considers forcing stations to begin reporting outages to the FCC’s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). In a series of filings, broadcasters say focusing on regulatory filings during an emergency would do more harm than good by taking the focus off the critical job of informing the public.
“In a nutshell, while clearly well-intentioned, the proposals will likely hinder broadcasters’ ability to serve the public rather than help it,” says the National Association of Broadcasters.
Earlier this year the FCC made DIRS reporting mandatory for wireless, cable and internet companies, but the NAB says broadcasters are different from other communications providers because they must gather and report news and information about a disaster as a situation unfolds. “More paperwork,” it says, “will distract station staff from this core responsibility and possibly risk harm to lives or property by disrupting a station’s coverage of a disaster.”
Cumulus Media is also concerned that the proposed reporting process fails to adequately take into account the overriding need for broadcasters to deal with a station outage first and then, as soon as possible, report the outage to the FCC via DIRS. It says the FCC should be more understanding of broadcasters’ plight during disasters and that filling out a government form is not a priority.
“To impose enforcement consequences upon broadcasters who fail to fill out the DIRS form within 24 hours when their livelihood is at stake is unconscionable,” the company says in a filing. “To be told that they will be held accountable for placing their safety and livelihood over an uncertain need for the public to be informed is government overreach at its worst.”
Why More Stations Don’t Report
One factor that has the FCC considering mandatory filings, it says, is that too few broadcasters have been voluntarily participating. When the voluntary DIRS is currently activated during a disaster, the FCC says it typically only hears from 20% to 35% of stations.
But the NAB says oftentimes the person who would file such reports is also responsible for keeping the station operational, particularly for small and medium-sized stations. The trade group says many broadcasters also realize that DIRS reports rarely, if ever, lead to any government actions that help a station maintain or restore service.
“Instead of adding more paperwork obligations, the FCC should focus on steps that would actually help stations, such as assisting broadcasters in gaining access to fuel, cellular service, and their facilities during a disaster,” NAB says.
Cumulus says a “more flexible” notification period could also lead to a greater degree of compliance. It also says if the Commission explained more precisely what the benefits are to broadcasters and to the public at large, there might be more voluntary filings.
“Disasters are extremely onerous on broadcasters’ resources,” it says. “Requiring mandatory reporting on such a short time frame does not strike the correct balance.”
Similar Concerns At Public Radio
There is little support for mandatory reporting among public media, either. NPR says the proposal is “vague” about what the Commission will do with the data it wants to collect and whether the benefits from having that data outweigh the harms caused by imposing another regulatory mandate on broadcasters. It says the FCC should delay imposing any new reporting requirements until it can clearly articulate how the data collection will be used and how it will benefit the public interest.
“During emergencies, local officials already are collaborating with local broadcasters and do not need to check a government database to determine if a local broadcast station is operational,” NPR says. “Given the burden it would impose on local station staff, mandatory reporting by public radio stations would, on balance, not be in the public interest.” If the Commission goes forward with the idea, NPR says the requirements should include measures to protect public radio stations from “unreasonable” enforcement actions.
The FCC is also looking at whether DIRS filing requirements should be expanded to satellite radio. But SiriusXM says the mandates are unnecessary for its network. Sirius XM says its satellite system includes built-in redundancies that significantly reduce the likelihood of outages in the first place, and it points out that they have no way to determine whether their subscribers’ receivers remain functioning during a disaster.
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