Draft EEO Item Circulated to 10th Floor

A draft order on collecting broadcaster and cable workforce diversity data using form 395-B has been circulated to the 10th floor, according to FCC officials and the agency’s circulation webpage, just a week after a call for action from 27 Democratic lawmakers and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The EEO item was teed up by a 2021 NPRM and has long been a pet project for Starks. Public interest groups and NAB have disagreed about how the data should be handled after the FCC collects it. Groups such as Common Cause want the data to be publicly available in an online portal searchable by station, while broadcasters have said the information should be anonymized. It's not yet clear what position the draft takes. The circulated item includes a report and order and a Further NPRM, according to the circulation listing.