New FCC CEDC to Meet More, Act Faster

The FCC’s new Communications Equity and Diversity Council will meet more often and act more quickly than preceding diversity committees, said Chair Heather Gate at the CEDC's first virtual meeting. Previous diversity committees voted on most recommendations at the end of their terms, but the new group should aim at being “part of the solution as things are happening right now," said Gate, the Connected Nation vice president-digital inclusion: "Waiting until 2023 to drop all of our recommendations, we may miss a window that is open right now.”

The group’s new charter directs the council to hold three public meetings annually; previous diversity committee charters required two. “The work will go apace and means we probably need to have each of the three working groups meet before the end of the year,” said Jamila Bess Johnson, the council’s designated federal officer. Gate said working groups should have a framework at the council’s first meeting in 2022 for what they seek to accomplish. “Time goes so fast, and we have a limited number of meetings,” said Vice Chair Susan Au Allen, CEO of the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation. See the personals section of this issue for a list of other members of the council.

One reason for the heightened pace is to take advantage of a moment where COVID-19 relief programs are aimed at increasing connectivity for the underserved and companies are increasingly looking to back diversity initiatives, Gate said. “Now is the time for our council to make recommendations that will break down barriers to digital communications, ownership and supply diversity.”

​​​​​​​The new council has an “expanded mission,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in remarks opening Wednesday’s meeting. Examining diversity, “strictly through the lens of traditional media” is “way too narrow,” she said. “The challenges are bigger and broader and they are all across technology.” The group’s work is “keyed” to the agency’s review of broadcast ownership rules, said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Commissioner Nathan Simington said this body should focus on broadband access in rural communities.

​​​​​​​Rosenworcel said diversity issues are personal for her. “I have been the only woman at the agency, at the witness table, and the room where decisions are being made for so much of my professional life,” she said. Rosenworcel told the council that former acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn broke “the glass above” to allow her to be the first woman nominated as permanent FCC chair: “May we not be the last.”

Roberts Cos. CEO Steven Roberts said the council should consider devoting a session to an upcoming report on inequality from BIA Advisory Services and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters. BIA Managing Director Rick Ducey emailed that BIA and NABOB “are partnering to share data to produce a report on Black Owned Radio Stations” to help companies with “media investment decisions.” NABOB declined to comment.

​​​​​​​The council’s Innovation and Access WG, chaired by Robert Brooks, Howard University’s WHUR(FM) Washington digital solution specialist, will focus on evaluating the effect of new tech on diverse communities and accelerating the entry of small businesses into the communications and tech industries. The Digital Empowerment and Inclusion WG, chaired by Dominique Harrison, director-technology policy for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, will focus on equitable broadband deployment and addressing digital redlining. The Diversity and Equity WG will study underrepresentation of minorities and women in the media, communications and tech sectors.

Subpanel membership is being determined. The council’s members include numerous returnees from the preceding body, among them the chair, vice chairs and WG chairs. Members span the entire communications industry, from Beasley Media CEO Caroline Beasley to former FCC Commissioner Henry Rivera and DC Public Service Commission Policy Adviser Felicia West.

Council Vice Chair Nicol Turner Lee, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, urged the CEDC to build on the recommendations of the previous committee: “There was some unfinished business.” Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council Senior Adviser David Honig, a longtime member of FCC diversity committees, said the group should work with the chairwoman’s office about FCC progress on previous committee recommendations, and what might be actionable. Past unanimous recommendations from the committees sat for decades without FCC action, he said.