Draft Broadcast Paper Filings Order Largely Unchanged
A draft on eliminating requirements broadcasters send hard copies of contract documents to the FCC hasn’t been subject of negotiation among eighth-floor offices, we're told. The order isn’t expected to change ahead of Tuesday's commissioners’ meeting, said officials Friday.
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The draft item is little changed from the NPRM, an official said. The proposal received some pushback from anti-consolidation groups and the American Cable Association (see 1803220045). But industry officials expect commissioners to approve it. The FCC didn't comment.
Broadcasters must send the FCC hard copies of contracts and documents such as articles of incorporation to be kept on file, and must keep the documents themselves or an inventory of them in their online public file. The hard copy requirement dates from the 1930s and is now “redundant and unnecessary,” the draft order said. It would eliminate the paper copy requirement, noting “ready access” to such documents provided by broadcaster online public file as an alternative. The order doesn’t alter the current online requirements. Stations could either upload the documents to the public file or include an inventory of the required documents in their public file, making the actual documents available to the public on request, the order said.
Broadcasters support the draft order. Though the item is seen as a useful elimination of an outdated rule, it’s not expected to have wide-reaching affects, broadcast attorneys said. It’s “a long overdue reform, but not a game-changer,” said Gray Television Deputy General Counsel Rob Folliard. Sending the FCC hard copies that are filed away and almost never consulted by anyone is “silly,” he said.
Groups opposed to media consolidation such as Common Cause and ACA argued the FCC should require online versions of the documents in the public file, and that not doing so is a blow to transparency. “The availability of actual copies of the documents within 30 days is an indispensable component of the public’s right to access,” said Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America and other groups in docket 18-4. “That’s nonsense,” said Folliard, saying such groups don't currently seek access to such documents even though they are available.
The draft harmonizes redactions allowed in such documents with other FCC rules, requires stations to update their online inventory of required documents every 30 days, and includes provisions for stations that broadcast in part to foreign countries and thus aren't subject to online public file requirements.