FCC Proposes Fines Over Emergency Info

Wed Feb 23, 9:04 PM ET U.S. Government - AP

By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed $65,000 in fines against three California television stations for failing to provide timely captions and graphics for deaf or partially deaf viewers about emergency information related to wildfires in 2003.

Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) Chairman Michael Powell said it was the first time the FCC (news - web sites) proposed such fines against broadcasters.

The proposal targets three San Diego-area TV stations for their coverage on Oct. 26-27, 2003 of wildfires that swept through Southern California, killing 24 people. More than 3,600 homes were destroyed and 750,000 acres burned, with San Diego County the hardest-hit area.

The FCC says emergency information such as evacuation orders or road closures presented to hearing viewers must also be given to deaf viewers "simultaneously or nearly simultaneously."

If a broadcaster doesn't use closed captioning, it must provide the information through other visual aides such as a news "crawl" at the bottom of the screen, maps, or graphics.

The FCC gave no specific time limit regarding how soon the captioning or graphics had to be shown, though the agency has wide latitude over how it imposes fines.

"People with hearing disabilities have a right to the same timely emergency information as stations provide to their hearing audiences," Powell said in a statement.

The FCC proposed a $25,000 fine against Channel 51 of San Diego, Inc., owner of KUSI-TV, for 22 alleged violations.

One allegation involved a station anchor reporting the opening of an evacuation center at 9:12 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2003. It took three more hours for a caption or graphic of the information to appear.

Mike McKinnon, Jr., the station's vice president, said the company did not violate any rules and was considering an appeal to the FCC. Stations have 30 days to appeal or pay the fine.

The station reported information factually, McKinnon said.

"It was a severe disaster here," he said. "By the time a report got on the air, the information we just reported could have become irrelevant because the place was just destroyed."

A $20,000 fine was proposed against McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Company, Inc., owner of KGTV, for 12 alleged violations. A company spokesman said there were no immediate plans to appeal.

KGTV, in a statement, said it had "strengthened our newsroom procedures to ensure that we meet FCC standards in this area."

Midwest Television, Inc., owner of KFMB-TV, also faces a possible $20,000 fine for 11 alleged violations. Station president Ed Trimble said he was disappointed by the decision.

"We believe we did an outstanding job of serving our community during this trying time," said Trimble, noting that his station won two Emmy Awards for its coverage.

FCC documents show each station argued that the rules let them use "good faith judgment" to decide when to present emergency information visually.

The FCC could have levied fines up to $27,500 for each violation.

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On the Net:

Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov

National Association of the Deaf: http://www.nad.org/