The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued an Order which eliminates the requirement that commercial broadcast stations retain physical copies of letters and emails from the public in their public inspection files. The Commission explained that eliminating the correspondence file requirement will reduce regulatory burdens on stations by removing the need for stations to keep a “paper” local public inspection file at their studios, instead requiring stations to upload all other public file documents to the FCC’s online public inspection file database. The rules are not yet effective and remain subject to approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and publication in the Federal Register. The FCC will issue a Public Notice announcing the effective date of the new rules.
As background, in 2012 the FCC changed its public file requirements to require television stations to move their local “paper” public inspection files online to an FCC-hosted database, and TV stations were required to complete their transition to the online public file by July 2014. As explained in our prior memo available here, in February 2016 the Commission expanded the TV online public inspection file requirements to apply to most radio stations in the top 50 markets by December 24, 2016. Most radio stations in other markets will be required to move the content of their public inspection files online by March 1, 2018. However, based on privacy concerns, the FCC decided that stations would not be permitted to upload public correspondence to the online file, and required such correspondence to remain in physical paper files. Stations were therefore unable to take full advantage of moving all portions of their public inspection files online.
Once the FCC’s Order becomes effective, however, stations that upload all of their public file material to the Commission’s online database and that also provide online access to back-up political file documents via their own website, will not be required to maintain any physical local public file at their main studios. While listeners and viewers will continue to be able to provide comments to stations (and such comments should continue to be reviewed by station personnel), the rule change will eliminate the need for stations to keep a physical local public inspection file once all required documents are posted online.
Along with the elimination of the public correspondence retention requirement for broadcasters, the FCC also eliminated the need for broadcasters to summarize correspondence relating to violent programming in their renewal applications. It should also be noted that while the Order eliminates the local public correspondence file rule, the Order does not eliminate the requirement that stations maintain back-up political file documents for two years; however, political files may be either in hard copy or on the station’s website.
If you have any questions regarding the FCC’s public inspection file rules, please contact any attorney in our office.
© 2024 Lerman Senter
Legal Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
Website design by Beth Singer Design | Website development by The Modern Firm