FCC Seeks Dismissal of Effort To Stop Staffer Data Collection

The FCC’s decision earlier this to resume collecting workforce data from U.S. broadcasters continues to spark significant debate. The commission argues that this data collection, which had been suspended since 2001, is crucial for assessing diversity within the broadcasting industry. The legal basis for this move is rooted in the Communications Act, which grants the FCC authority to collect such data.

The FCC’s order requires broadcasters with five or more full-time employees to report the gender, race, and ethnicity of their workforces. This information is intended to help the FCC study employment trends and ensure diversity improvements1. However, the National Religious Broadcasters and the Texas Association of Broadcasters have challenged this requirement, arguing it infringes on First Amendment rights1.

The FCC maintains that the collection and public release of this data are necessary for transparency and to produce reliable data, despite concerns about potential misuse.

According to RadioWorld, the commission said it rejects the notion that collection of employment statistics, and the public release of the findings, violates the First Amendment rights of broadcasters. The FCC says the Communications Act directs and grants a statutory mandate for its authority to collect the employment data from broadcasters.

The new Form 395-B will include two additional racial categories and a “non-binary” gender classification. Some religious broadcasters especially took issue with the additions, saying the inclusion of a non-binary category infringes on their First Amendment rights by forcing them to recognize genders beyond that of traditional male and female.

The FCC argues in its court filing that there is no constitutional problem with the order, whether under the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment or the protection of free speech in the First Amendment.