Fewer than two in 10 state utility regulators were people of color (POC) in 2020, while more than one in three were women, showed a Communications Daily analysis of National Utilities Diversity Council (NUDC) data. More than half of the commissions or equivalent bodies had zero POC as members. Six had no women and four had none from either category.
In an era of the Me Too movement and Black Lives Matter, running the companies and institutions that dominate the communications universe largely remains a white male affair, according to our analysis of the board membership of major companies, trade and interest groups. Women hold 12% of board seats among broadcasters and 28% among MVPDs and programmers. People of color are harder to find on those boards: 6% at broadcasters, 28% at wireline and wireless operators.
In an era of the Me Too movement and Black Lives Matter, running the companies and institutions that dominate the communications universe largely remains a white male affair, according to our analysis of the board membership of major companies, trade and interest groups. Women hold 12% of board seats among broadcasters and 28% among MVPDs and programmers. People of color are harder to find on those boards: 6% at broadcasters, 28% at wireline and wireless operators.
With national issues related to diversity having ramifications for media and telecom, Communications Daily has reported on that impact throughout this past year. The stories in this Special Report are the work of five Communications Daily journalists who spent part of 2020 covering those issues.
The FCC has struggled for years to retain women, promote African Americans, hire Hispanics, and attract diverse engineers and economists, according to government data. Annual reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show the communications regulator is below the average of the U.S. workforce by such measures. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to make diversity a focus and to name the first permanent female FCC chair. Only one woman, then-Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, has been acting chair.
Fewer than two in 10 state utility regulators were people of color (POC) in 2020, while more than one in three were women, showed a Communications Daily analysis of National Utilities Diversity Council (NUDC) data. More than half of the commissions or equivalent bodies had zero POC as members. Six had no women and four had none from either category.
This Special Report on Emergency Communications details the challenges of modernizing systems like 911, and other hurdles to further improving public safety. The six articles by Communications Daily journalists are the result of months of research, interviews, document reviews and public-records requests.
During a massive emergency like California’s 2018 Thomas Fire, people are “just hungry” for information, said Brian Uhl, emergency manager for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management. “It’s extremely important to provide alerts in multiple languages if your jurisdiction has people who speak multiple languages.” The county gets emergency alert system messages in both Spanish and English. But it's one of the few localities where this happens. And that concerns some. The reasons multilingual EAS isn't common are complex, and though some support FCC action, others are focused on local control.
New Jersey’s failure to spend money tagged for 911 to upgrade an aging backbone network is delaying potentially life-saving next-generation features, local government officials said in interviews. Some counties years ago upgraded local systems and equipment to be NG-911 capable. They can’t use them to their full potential until the state modernizes its network integrating local public safety answering points (PSAPs). New Jersey probably would have enough money for upgrades if it stopped moving 911 fee revenue, they said.
Government responses to the January 2018 false missile emergency alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054) resulted in fixes, but there's room for improvement, said emergency communications officials and lawyers in interviews. The false alarm drew scrutiny from the FCC, Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Hawaii agencies (see 1804110064). Some are pushing to bring back legislation filed last Congress to address some of the issues identified in reviews of the incident. Telecom-focused lawmakers said they're considering just that.