Monty Tayloe

The full FCC unanimously approved a reconsideration order clarifying some aspects of the agency’s previous clarification of its political file rules (see 2003300046). As industry sought, the regulator clarified that the political advertising reporting policies it instituted in October apply only to third-party issue ads, not candidate ads. The agency said it will use “a standard of reasonableness and good faith” in judging whether broadcasters are complying with rules for commercials in determining whether the spots trigger disclosure obligations, concern a national issue, or appropriately use acronyms or abbreviations. All other issues raised in recon petitions by NAB and broadcasters including Scripps and Meredith are “pending,” said a footnote.

Free Press asking the FCC to require broadcasters to air disclosures on inaccurate COVID-19 information (see 2004170062) was a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and a veiled attempt to reinstate the fairness doctrine, said FCC General Counsel Tom Johnson during a Federalist Society teleconference Monday. Free Press’ premise that COVID-19 White House briefings, pundit commentary and other reports are being aired without context is “demonstrably false” because of the intense scrutiny new outlets are applying to all pandemic information, he said. “People have a host of information sources,” Johnson said, saying those sources are “laser-focused” on any news item on the pandemic. The agency’s unusually fast response to the petition was because it was “styled as an emergency, in the middle of a crisis,” Johnson said. Those circumstances “made it a worthy exercise” for the agency to make a point about “policing broadcast journalism,” Johnson said. Free Press says it wasn’t seeking censorship, but Johnson said the disclosure requirements contemplated in the petition would have had a chilling effect on broadcast journalism. Requiring disclaimers for only one sort of media introduces “a regulatory thumb on the scale,” he said. Asked to compare Free Press’ request to similar comments made by President Donald Trump (see 1809040051) about pulling network “licenses,” Johnson said, “I don’t want to comment on anything that didn’t come through the door.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been consistent in his response to those sorts of comments and requests, Johnson said. Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez said in an interview that the petition was narrow in scope. She criticized the agency for using it as a tool to "score political points with some very extreme people." She said most broadcasters are doing a good job of airing accurate information about the virus.

The FCC and the Office of the Solicitor General took aim at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’s longtime oversight by the same three-judge panel (see 1909230067) over the commission’s quadrennial review process. The government's petition for certiorari was filed with the Supreme Court Friday, as expected (see 2004170050). “Intervention is necessary to restore the Commission’s discretion to regulate in the public interest,” the government told SCOTUS. A similar petition from broadcasters was also filed.

The FCC’s April 23 meeting will be via teleconference and in a shortened format due to COVID-19, the agency said in a sunshine notice Thursday. As expected (see 2004150057), some major items will be voted during the meeting while the rest will be voted on circulation ahead of the meeting, the notice said. Commissioners will vote during the meeting on the 6 GHz rules and Further NPRM, the 5G rural USF fund and the orbital debris item. For the March meeting, some items were voted on the day before the meeting and others that morning, FCC officials said. In March, the agency prior to the meeting issued a deletion notice on the voted items.

The FCC should investigate reports that carriers disconnected customers after pledging to the FCC they wouldn’t do so during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in a tweet Thursday. “Investigate these complaints. Stat.” The agency is “powerless” to enforce the Keep Americans Connected pledge (see 2003130066), said Gigi Sohn of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. The commission “abdicated" authority to do so when it reversed itself on net neutrality, she said. Hundreds of ISPs have taken FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's pledge.

The FCC and the Office of the Solicitor General filed a cert petition at the Supreme Court seeking reversal of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Prometheus IV. Parties to the case sent us the filing, which wasn't yet online or confirmed by the FCC.

The April 23 commissioners’ meeting will be teleconferenced and possibly shortened in a manner similar to the March meeting, FCC officials told us. Though eighth-floor offices are discussing the final format, Chairman Ajit Pai's office proposed again voting on many of the items ahead of the meeting (see 2003310067), but having in-meeting votes and commissioner statements on major ones such as 6 GHz, officials said. One FCC official said commissioners are preparing full statements on all the major items. When the FCC changed the format for the March meeting, Chief of Staff Matthew Berry was in touch with the offices weeks in advance to discuss what to expect. A few days before that meeting, the chairman’s office said in an email to other offices the plan was to keep the session very short, the official said. Discussions over the format of the April meeting are in progress, several officials said. The commission didn't comment Wednesday.

Entertainment Media Trust’s radio stations are off-air, EMT trustee Dennis Watkins told us in a brief interview. The stations went off the dial Friday, reported The Riverfront Times. EMT’s stations had been operating despite having their licenses canceled, after the company ceased participating in an FCC administrative law hearing on its renewal applications (see 2004020035). The St. Louis-area newspaper quotes radio host Bob Romanik -- who the FCC said was the actual decision-maker at EMT -- as saying the stations will broadcast again. Watkins told us EMT doesn’t have plans to resume broadcasting or seek an appeal of the hearing result. The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council wants the FCC to use EMT’s licenses as a broadcast incubator (see 2003200068).

FCC workers and their National Treasury Employees Union praise the agency's precautions to protect employees from COVID-19. But NTEU filed an unfair labor practices grievance against the agency Monday over continuing contract negotiations during the pandemic, President Tony Reardon emailed us. The FCC acted faster than some other federal agencies, but critics told us none has responded quickly or well.

The FCC’s move to new headquarters near Union Station has been delayed at least two months due to COVID-19, a spokesperson told us Monday (see 2004130039). The move had been slated for late June. Since the FCC’s pandemic response means few employees are in the building, preparations for the move were delayed. One official told us it may be delayed into the fall. The new HQ is Sentinel Square III at 45 L St. NE. The current location is 445 12th St. SW.