[EAS] FCC Addresses FEMA/Ad Council PSA Attention SignalConcerns

[David Turnmire]

On 6/3/2013 8:39 AM, Richard_Rudman wrote:
> ...
> The rollout of CMAS/WEA was not coordinated well. The PSA under current discussion is an attempt to correct that. The FCC has acted to address the PSA attention signal issue. Unfortunately there is no mention in the PSA's that WEA is one of many warning systems. I personally think it would have been better if the PSA's referred to radio and TV stations as sources of long form emergency information that are designed to supplement the very limited amount of information conveyed in a 90 character WEA message.
> ...
Especially given the common use of the "check media" phrase with WEA.  
Educating the public that the WEA's primary value is to give them a 
"heads up" and cause them to look elsewhere for additional info would 
seem like a good idea.  Indeed, the PSA could say something like "... 
check local media such as broadcast stations and news websites for 
additional important information...", thus connecting the WEA "check 
media" phrase with its intended meaning and purpose.

As for the bigger issue of the regs vs PSA on use of the tones, I'm of 
two minds on that.  On the one hand, I think it is clear we need a 
public information campaign, and I think the PSA reflects good 
intentions in that regard.  On the other hand, we want to avoid having 
the tone used too often in non-emergency contexts that would lead to the 
public "tuning out".

I think a reasonable compromise would be to amend 11.45 to allow a 
specific exception for public service messages directed specifically at 
educating the public about EAS and WEA.  Even in that case, you would be 
limited to no more than 2 seconds of the attention tone and no more than 
one data burst.  The data burst would have to be for an expired RWT.  It 
would be ignored by decoders anyway because they must successfully 
receive at least two of the three data bursts. And by keeping them 
brief, they will minimally disrupt the audience while still identifying 
the message with the sounds associated with a real alert.  The FCC (or 
NAB or SBE) could even put a suitable recording on their web sites for 
producers to use... since they are unlikely to have the resources 
(technology or understanding) to do it properly themselves.

Dave