NABET: Don't Let Broadcasters Hide Their Public Inspection Files

Union Launches Letter-Writing Campaign to Save Decades-Old FCC Rule

As NABET-CWA fights for fair contracts and job security, the union is also fighting to save the FCC rule requiring broadcast stations to maintain public inspection files that include essential information about programming, ownership and jobs. Above, Local 54042 members at Gannett-owned WKYC in Cleveland protest in May, part of a long battle against the company's anti-union campaign.

Are your local TV stations laying off workers and filling newscasts with canned stories from a central location, perhaps many states away? If so, are they violating the terms of their public licenses?

Right now, you can view each station’s public inspection file and find out. But the mega-corporations that run “local” broadcasting today say that’s too much of a burden on them. So they’re pressuring the Federal Communications Commission to declare the files off limits.

NABET-CWA has launched a letter-writing campaign and is asking all CWA members to help send a message to the FCC that transparency is essential.

“The only way that we, the citizens who own the airwaves, can keep broadcasters honest and protect local programming and jobs is through our right to inspect public records,” NABET-CWA President Jim Joyce said.

In fact, Joyce said, the FCC needs to make the records more accessible. Right now, they’re only available during a station’s regular weekday hours. “In the 21st century, public files like these should be online and available for viewing at any time from anywhere.” he said.

The public inspection files contain information about stations' programming, ownership structure and compliance with FCC rules and regulations. For instance, a recent report shows that NBC’s Telemundo station in Boston is failing to provide any local news. Yet when Comcast and NBC lobbied the FCC to approve their merger, they promised to provide more news at the Boston station and others.

“That’s not what’s happening anywhere,” Joyce said. “The trend in the industry is toward what we’re calling ‘zombie’ news. That’s when stations fake a local broadcast with content that’s not local or original. And that means workers, including NABET-CWA members, lose their jobs.”

To help save jobs and protect your right to know, join NABET-CWA’s campaign by clicking here. You can sign and send a letter prepared by NABET, or write your own.