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Strikes Down FCC Rules for Diverse Broadcast Hiring (01/16/01) Washington, Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- "A federal appeals court struck down U.S. rules that encourage recruitment of women and minorities by television, radio, and cable-TV companies. "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said today the Federal Communications Commission rules are unconstitutional, the second time the court vacated the agency's diversity rules. "The FCC program calls on broadcasters to make job listings readily available to all qualified applicants, including women and minorities. The court decision comes as the Clinton administration and key lawmakers are pushing for new laws to boost minority ownership of TV and radio stations. `The rule does put official pressure upon broadcasters to recruit minority candidates, thus creating a race-based classification that is not narrowly tailored to support a compelling governmental interest and is therefore unconstitutional,'' Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in the opinion for the three-judge panel, all of whom are Republican appointees. "The [long-standing racial-preference program of the FCC] was an attempt to replace broader equal employment opportunity rules the federal appeals court struck down in 1998. It urges companies to use job fairs, scholarship programs and other forums to reach women and minorities. Companies that instead opt to set up their own outreach programs have to report the race and sex of their job candidates. Black FCC Chairman Kennard's Priority: "FCC Chairman William Kennard, the first black to head the agency, made diversity in the media industry a top priority, pushing for more effective hiring policies and more ownership opportunities. Kennard plans to leave office Friday. President- elect George W. Bush will name his replacement. "FCC spokeswomen couldn't be reached for comment. "The court rejected the commission's argument that the rules' only goal is to ensure broad outreach in broadcast recruiting, pointing to the focus on race and sex of job applicants. ``The commission has designed a rule under which non- minorities are less likely to receive notification of job openings solely because of their race,'' Ginsburg wrote. "Separately, a U.S. Commerce Department report released today said minorities have made few inroads to owning television and radio stations compared with two years ago, even as a strong economy has buoyed the overall industry's growth. "Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta called for Congress to reinstate a tax credit for companies that sell broadcast licenses to minority-owned firms. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, an Arizona Republican, proposed such a tax program in 1999 and hopes to address the issue this year, committee spokeswoman Pia Pialorsi said." Jesse Jackson demands FCC extort
racial hiring quotas from Viacom-CBS as condition of merger approval (09/13/99 - dead
link) "The $37 billion corporate combination announced last week, the largest marriage of two media companies ever, must be approved by the FCC and appears to run afoul of FCC rules. One prevents a U.S. television network from merging with another, and the other bars a company owning a TV network from owning TV stations that reach more than 35 percent of the viewing audience. "We challenge the FCC to not grant waivers. The FCC should not grant waivers of these ownership caps. We call on the FCC to take a long look at this merger before giving its blessings,'' Jackson said at a news conference in midtown Manhattan. ".... Jackson said he discussed the merger with CBS Chief Executive Mel Karmazin Monday morning, and that Karmazin agreed to meet with Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone once Redstone returned from a trip overseas. A CBS spokesman confirmed the discussion and the planned meeting. Karmazin, acknowledged as the driving force behind the merger, "has spoken with Reverend Jackson and is looking forward to meeting him. We believe the merger will be in the public interest,'' a CBS spokesman said.
"Last week, during the news conference detailing the merger, Karmazin said CBS would
seek minority buyers for any assets, such as television stations, that it might have to
divest as part of the merger. A Viacom spokesman declined to comment."
(Fox News 09/13/99) FCC
chief wants racial quotas for media ownership (06/17/99) "Explaining the mechanics of the incentives, Kennard said that, if a company sells a broadcast or cable company, for instance, to a minority-owned company, they could apply to the FCC for a deferral on the capital gains tax related to the sale for an indefinite period. "At the news conference, held amid a two-day meeting of The Citizenship Education Fund focusing on the financing of minority participation in the media business, [Jesse] Jackson cited the increasing concentration of media ownership, in addition to Kennard's view of increasing minority populations.
" 'Media ownership under the telecommunications Act of 1996 has become much more
likened unto a monopoly, too few people own too much media,' Jackson said, referring to
looser restrictions on ownership concentration that have promoted corporate consolidation
in telecoms and media." (Reuters, via Media Central News Wire 06/17/99) Federal
Communications Commission Unveils New Racial The FCC’s response to the U.S. Court of Appeal ruling against the use of racial quotas is little more than a blatant re-introduction of racial hiring goals for radio and TV licensees. According to an analysis by Roger Clegg, Center for Equal Opportunity, the FCC’s proposed new regulations "declare that stations 'will be expected to make reasonable, good faith efforts to recruit minorities and women' and must '[o]ffer promotions of qualified minorities and women in a nondiscriminatory fashion.' " That seems almost reasonable, until you get to the part where "the regulations ... say [licensees] must retain ‘[c]ompilations totaling race, ethnic origin, and gender of all applicants generated by each recruiting source according to vacancy.' " (Mr. Clegg's complete article appears in the Friday, Jan. 15, 1999 Op Ed section of the Washington Times.) The Institute for Justice (IJ) filed comments on the proposed rule, which are available upon request. We encourage you to comment on the rule as well. Comments are due to the FCC on Tuesday January 19th by close of business. If you have any questions concerning this matter please contact IJ Staff Attorney Matthew Berry at mberry@ij.org or (202) 955-1300. Stevie Wonder Lobbies
FCC for Minority-owned Stations (02/12/99 - dead link) " 'Public interest demands and public interest requires the protection of stations who stand alone like the dots in a Pac Man game destined to be gobbled up by' media conglomerates, said Wonder, who owns Los Angeles area FM station KJLH. The FCC is considering easing existing rules that limit the number of local TV and radio stations that a single company can control.
"Wonder and others fear that doing so will bring about more consolidation, making it
harder for minority-owned stations and stations not part of a chain to compete against
media conglomerates. FCC Chairman Bill Kennard called Wonder's testimony 'very, very
compelling.' (AP, via Fox News, 02/12/99, by Jeannine Aversa)
END of FCC News Page. |
