Pai Proposes to Shift EEO Watchdogs to Enforcement Bureau
A proposal to shift equal employment opportunity enforcement from the Media to the Enforcement bureau could indicate the FCC intends to get tougher on such violations, but could also be seen as gathering “low hanging fruit,” broadcast attorneys and civil rights officials told us Tuesday. Chairman Ajit Pai circulated a proposal to relocate EEO enforcement staff Tuesday morning, said a release then. The announcement was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the agency’s EEO rules, and will “improve the FCC’s enforcement of those rules and strengthen our commitment to fighting discrimination,” Pai said. The shift was one of a host of EEO reforms requested by the Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council and other civil rights groups.
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MMTC Monday requested more changes and an FCC that will “Regulate by Compassion” and “Ensure Equality.” Though conceding the internal reorganization was the easiest requested reform, acting MMTC President Maurita Coley praised Pai’s proposal in an interview. The EEO rules wouldn’t be “just a toothless tiger” after the change, she said.
“The FCC’s bold decision 50 years ago in a divided nation to stop discrimination in broadcast hiring paved the way for diverse leaders such as Chairman Pai and former Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn -- the first Indian-American and African-American woman FCC Chairs,” Coley said in a release. “The action today will help the world to see that ensuring equal opportunity is serious business at this FCC, and it sets an example for other industries, such as the tech industry, that have missed the mark.”
The proposal is expected to be largely noncontroversial and to be approved, industry lawyers said. The joint EEO comments from MMTC, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, National Urban League, Public Knowledge, Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Women in Cable Telecommunications were criticized as a whole by NAB and state broadcaster associations in May (see 1805160042). The proposal to shift enforcement staff wasn’t slammed. Tuesday, the FCC and NAB didn’t comment.
A shift could be seen as a precursor to more active FCC enforcement of EEO violations and as a deliberate “signal” to industry, one broadcast lawyer noted. Pai’s emphasis on more effective and strengthened enforcement supports that view, another pointed out. “I’m not sure what to expect,” conceded Garvey Schubert broadcast attorney Melodie Virtue. Broadcast attorneys are unlikely to change their behavior or recommendations to clients based on Pai’s announcement but will likely closely watch future FCC actions on EEO, she said. Wide adoption of online public filing (see 1806130059) opens stations to easy audits of filings such as those connected with EEO, she said.
MMTC and the other groups said in May they wanted the FCC to issue an order on Tuesday’s EEO anniversary proscribing word-of mouth recruitment, which it believes disadvantages minorities, and called for active enforcement, a revised audit program, and the publishing of statistics plus shifting enforcement staff. Pai’s action on only the simplest of those requests doesn’t mean the agency won’t act on the others, said MMTC Senior Adviser David Honig. Though some broadcast attorneys said the item could be seen as a largely cosmetic concession to civil rights groups, Honig disagreed. It’s not unusual for agencies to start with less controversial moves so they can gauge pushback before ramping up to something more sweeping, Honig said.
MMTC called for further changes Monday, asking the agency in a release to rethink positions on Lifeline (see 1807030052), multilingual emergency alerts, inmate calling and ownership diversity. “A good start would be for the FCC to evaluate each of its actions through the lens of compassion, equality, and equal opportunity in the industries it regulates,” MMTC said. “We are better than this.”