Groups Urge the FCC to Reinstate Collection of Equal Employment Opportunity Data

More than three dozen organizations filed a letter calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reinstate collection of equal employment opportunity, or "EEO", data. The letter was submitted in support of National Hispanic Media Coalition's (NHMC) reply comment filed in mid-September.

From 1970 through 2000, every broadcast station was required to report the number of employees in each of nine job categories by race and gender. Members of the public could gain access to this data by visiting the station and looking at the public file or by going to FCC headquarters. The FCC used this data to compile annual "trend reports" tracking the aggregate percentage of people of color and women employed in each job category. Although the Commission decided to reinstate this data collection in 2004, that decision has never been implemented.

The organizations signing onto the letter include: Access Humboldt; AfterDark CATV PRO; Alliance for Community Media; Alliance for Women in Media; Asian American Justice Center; Benton Foundation; Center for Media Justice; Chicago Media Action; Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, Inc.; Common Cause; Communications Workers of America; Dr. Clara E. Rodriguez, Professor, Fordham University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology; Free Press; Future of Music Coalition; Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); Hispanic National Bar Association; Industry Ears; Media Access Project; Media Alliance; Media and Democracy Coalition; Media Working Group; Minority Media and Telecommunications Council; National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives; National Association of Hispanic Journalists; National Association of Hispanic Publications; National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP); National Conference of Puerto Rican Women, Inc. (NACOPRW); New America Foundation, Open Technology Initiative; National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI); National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC); National Institute of Latino Policy (NiLP); Office of Communication, United Church of Christ, Inc.; Public Knowledge; Reclaim the Media; SueWilsonReports; The Transmission Project; United States Hispanic Leadership Institute; UNITY: Journalists of Color; and Women in Media & News (WIMN)