Groups Want NOI on FCC's History of Racism
The FCC should issue a notice of inquiry on the agency’s history of anti-Black racism, said more than 100 public interest and diversity groups in a letter Tuesday to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Examine the roots of its failure to…
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create a racially just media system,” said Free Press, the Future of Music Coalition, Greenpeace US, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Common Cause, Public Knowledge and others. “It’s time for the FCC to acknowledge that its policies and practices are a primary reason for deep structural inequities existing in the media and telecom industries that have harmed the Black community.” Rosenworcel said Tuesday in a statement that the agency would seek comment on the groups' request. “I recognize we can’t build a better, more equitable future without a reckoning of how our past continues to influence our present and how too many communities continue to be overlooked and underserved," she said. Along with investigating past policies, the agency should “identify reparative actions” that could be taken “to redress the structural racism that exists in our media system” due to FCC policies, the groups said. They seconded a recent call for an “equity audit” from legislators (see 2106290072). The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, which frequently lobby the FCC on diversity matters, weren’t signatories and didn’t comment.