February 8, 1996


                           SEPARATE STATEMENT
                                   OF
                         COMMISSIONER SUSAN NESS


RE:  Streamlining Broadcast EEO Rule and Policies, Vacating the EEO Forfeiture Policy
   Statement and Amending Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules to Include EEO
       Forfeiture Guidelines  

      Television and radio broadcasting is available to each of us free of charge, whether
we are white or black, male or female, rich or poor, urbanite or rural dweller.  Broadcasters
serve a vital role in our society by providing the means by which we engage in public debate
on a wide range of ideas and issues, including political and social issues of great import.  
For me, it has been and remains critical that broadcasters present a wide range of ideas from
which public opinion can be distilled. 

     The Commission's equal employment opportunity (EEO) rules are intended to
promote dissemination of the full range of views and information by ensuring that the
employees of a station themselves reflect the diversity of the community they serve.  I fully
support our goal of equal employment opportunity.  Discrimination cannot be tolerated in
any form, substance, or manner, whether overt or covert.  

     By recruiting and hiring minorities and women in key positions, broadcasters stay in
tune with their community's needs and listeners.  I also know that employment experience is
a critical factor for moving into station ownership. 

     It is precisely because of my strong support for equal employment opportunity that I
want to revise our current rules and policies which are at once both over-regulatory and
inadequately effective.  Notwithstanding the best of intentions, the rules have had unintended
consequences.  They are complex in places, they do not give clear guidance, and particularly
for smaller stations they can produce overly-harsh outcomes.  To some extent, they exalt
form over substance because the paperwork can be manipulated to pass muster even in the
absence of sincere employment outreach efforts.  They also are counterproductive to the
extent that they burden broadcasters with paperwork requirements that do not further the
laudable, underlying goal of equal opportunity and, worse, lessen broadcasters' support for
equal employment opportunity.  

     So I hope all of us -- broadcasters, the public, and the Commission -- will use this
proceeding to consider whether there are more effective and less regulatory ways to attain
our equal employment opportunity objectives.  Our Notice asks for comment on a variety of
ideas, but I am especially interested in comments addressing four proposals that I believe
may advance our goals:

       Relieving additional small broadcasters from the paperwork associated with our
rules, but not from the EEO requirements themselves, would be a big step in the right
direction.   

       We also must identify clearer and better ways of spelling out our forfeiture
guidelines so that they are readily understood, in addition to seeking comment on the
substance of the guidelines themselves.   

       Crediting participation at job fairs and job banks expressly designed to attract
minority and female applicants would lessen the paperwork for many applicants and be more
effective at attracting qualified candidates.  

       Finally, a broadcaster's demonstrated long-term success in hiring women and
minorities could obviate the need to document a licensee's efforts to recruit applicants. 
Absent evidence of discrimination, broadcasters that consistently have employed a staff that
is reflective of their community should be found in compliance with our rules; they should
not be subject to forfeitures merely for lacking records that document the efforts which led to
the successful results.  Our goal is equal opportunity, not pretty files.  For those that do not
demonstrate such an employment record, documentation is necessary and appropriate to
demonstrate the efforts that were made to fulfill a commitment to strive for equal
employment.

     It is not a simple task to draft rules that provide strong incentives for equal
employment opportunity and fair evaluation of licensees' efforts while minimizing complexity
and paperwork.  Nevertheless, I believe that we are up to the challenge.