[EAS] [sbe-eas] More on the Review of the Emergency Alert System from today's FCC Daily Digest

[Adrienne Abbott]

There's one issue I haven't seen in these discussions on multilingual EAS which is a concern of mine...As broadcasters, how do we know that an EAS activation issued in a foreign language really is an EAS message? At this point, we are trusting a translator at either the station level or at the emergency management level, to accurately translate life-saving information into another language, one we ourselves don't speak or don't speak well enough to fully understand, particularly in a crisis environment. Considering the fines which have been levied for false EAS activations, it's understandable that a station manager might be reluctant to present a translated EAS message he/she doesn't understand. This might be an issue for stations with a second stream or channel which broadcasts in a foreign language. 

Adrienne

 

Adrienne Abbott

Nevada EAS Chair

NVBA  ABIP  Inspector