FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

February 23, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: brian.phillips@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) welcomed the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) reinstatement of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Form 395-B, which requires broadcasters to collect data on the diversity of their workforces. The FCC is required by law to collect this data but for more than 20 years has failed to do so. Senator Van Hollen and Congresswoman Clarke have pressed the FCC since 2019 to fulfill this mandate. More recently, in December the Senator and Congresswoman – along with 25 additional members of Congress and FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks – sent a letter to the FCC urging the Commission to finish its work to reinstate the collection of broadcast workforce diversity data.

“I applaud the FCC for reinstating this incredibly important workforce reporting order. For more than two decades, the FCC’s capacity to study workforce composition within broadcast stations under its jurisdiction was severely inhibited due to the misguided ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals to suspend the agency’s workforce diversity data reporting order. But that ends today,” said Congresswoman Clarke. “Discrimination has no place in our society – and media spaces are anything but the exception. Senator Van Hollen and I first raised this issue in 2019. And last December, my colleagues and I sent a letter to the FCC, urging them to start collecting diversity data from broadcasters again. Diversity in media can directly impact everything from the stories we hear, who tells those stories, and how we decide what stories are worth telling. We must do all we can to ensure the broadcast and cable industries are truly equitable and diverse to a degree that reflects today’s nation. Thankfully, champions within the FCC such as Commissioner Starks and Chair Rosenworcel agree.”

“When broadcasters’ workforces represent the makeup of the communities they cover, they are better equipped to tell the broad array of stories that matter to their audiences. But to help media organizations align with the diversity of their markets, we need reliable data. That’s why I’m glad the FCC has answered our calls to reinstate the reporting of broadcast worker composition – it is a key step to building a more inclusive media that reflects the diversity of America,” said Senator Van Hollen.

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