Watchdogs praise FCC enforcement of ad nondiscrimination rules

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A coalition of organizations seeking an end to “dictates” – the no-urban and no-Spanish orders that have been known to deprive stations of advertising revenue – is strongly backing the FCC’s efforts to bring the practice to an end. They say the effort is 27 years in the making.


The letter, addressed to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and copied to the other four Commissioners, is brief.

“On March 22, 2011, the Commission commenced enforcement of the advertising nondiscrimination rule.
“The first FCC hearing on this subject was held in 1984. We have waited 27 years for this day to arrive.

“Your statements that ‘the Commission will vigorously enforce its rules against discrimination in advertising sales contracts’ and that ‘discrimination simply has no place in broadcasting’ were a powerful assertion of the Commission’s moral authority. Pay no attention to the nay-sayers. You did the right thing.

“We believe that strong enforcement will lead to the near-demise of ‘no urban’ and ‘no Spanish’ advertising dictates within two years. All of us look forward to working with your team to make that happen.”

* American Indians in Film and Television

* Asian American Justice Center

* Black College Communication Association

* Black Leadership Forum

* Center for Media Justice

* International Black Broadcasters Association

* Latinos in Science and Technology Association

* League of United Latin American Citizens

* Media Access Project

* Minority Media and Telecommunications Council

* NAACP

* National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters

* National Association of Latino Independent Producers

* National Black Coalition for Media Justice

* National Coalition on Black Civic Participation – Black Women’s Roundtable

* National Conference of Puerto Rican Women

* National Hispanic Media Coalition

* National Organization of Black County Officials

* National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women

* National Policy Alliance

* National Urban League

* Native American Public Telecommunications

* Rainbow PUSH Coalition

RBR-TVBR observation: We are all for the demise of dictates. We just don’t see how a check-off box on a license renewal form for broadcast stations will get the job done when the problem is generated by advertisers and agencies. We aren’t nay-saying, we’re just saying.