The Alliance for Women in Media has sent a letter to the White House echoing the sentiments of a number of other public interest organizations – that the next chair of the FCC should be focused on improving diversity of ownership of FCC licenses.
AWM notes that the track record on this count has actually been good. “The Alliance for Women in Media has been encouraged by the past appointments of Commissioners that share our priorities of diversity and inclusion,” said Erin M. Fuller, CAE, AWM president. “We eagerly await the FCC to reach full composition, and stand ready to assist in areas including research, public education and promoting the role of all forms of media in our society.”
However, the distribution of licenses among minorities and women is still woefully below par.
In a statement, the organization said, “AWM strongly believes the FCC needs leaders committed to reversing the extraordinarily low representation of minorities and women in media and telecom ownership, procurement and employment, yet the representation of women and minorities remains disproportionately low in industries overseen by the FCC.”
The situation isn’t getting better, it’s getting worse. AWM believes the issue needs to addressed by bringing in leaders “who will assign the highest priority to racial and ethnic minority and women’s participation in the nation’s most influential industries.”
