EEO Data Collection Item Circulated to 10th Floor

A draft order on collecting broadcaster and cable workforce diversity data using form 395-B was circulated to the 10th floor just a week after a call for action from 27 Democratic lawmakers and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, according to FCC officials and the agency’s circulation webpage (see 2312150051). The equal employment opportunity item was teed up by a 2021 NPRM and has long been a focus for Starks. Public interest groups and NAB disagreed about how the data should be handled after the FCC collects it. Groups like Common Cause want the data to be publicly available in an online portal searchable by station. Meanwhile, broadcasters said they want the information anonymized. It's unclear what position the draft takes. The circulated item includes a report and order and a Further NPRM, according to the circulation listing. The FCC’s data collection using the form was suspended in 2001 after two court cases raised constitutional concerns. It was never revived. “It’s been the law for decades that the FCC was supposed to collect this data,” said United Church of Christ Media Ministry attorney Cheryl Leanza in an interview. “Data has never been more important than now. How will we know if we’re going in the right direction without data?”