[EAS] About this multilingual order...

[Suzanne Goucher]

Paul, the FCC order explicitly states that "we're doing nothing other than English" is an acceptable response if it's the truth.  In Maine, we have a minority population of less than 5%, so I'd be mighty surprised if any of my stations reported anything other than "only English."  No, there is no online form template - the FCC pointedly did not dictate the mode or method of information-gathering.  And no, you don't need to record your RMT script in two languages.  This is not a push by the FCC to get stations to do more languages, it's simply an information-gathering exercise at this point.

Suzanne Goucher
Maine Association of Broadcasters

> On Oct 20, 2017, at 3:46 PM, Paul Campbell <Pcampbell at maxmediava.com> wrote:
> 
> I'm starting to get questions from the folks in my market about this latest gift from the Commission, and thought it might help to just get some quick feedback from you (if you'd be so kind) on the following:
> 
> -In a nutshell, the FCC wants all of us to better serve the non-English speaking populace about all things EAS. To that end, we're all required to submit an official document to our respective State Chairs by Nov. 6 that indicates just how we're going to accomplish this task. Moreover, we're then required to list future steps we're planning on taking to further implement this. Questions:
>    
> 1) Is there some form template online we should be using (sorta like the ETRS)? If so, is there a link?
> 2) All it says is "other than English". I'm sure what they mean is Spanish, but I just started working with a new tower crew that's all Russian. It doesn't seem fair to leave them out.
> 3) Would having my RMT script rerecorded first in English and then immediately in the other language be enough to satisfy this latest fiasco? Perhaps for our future steps, we might indicate on our official document that we're planning on adding Japanese to the RMT script, and then a new language every six months.
> 
> Seriously, are stations going to get fined if this isn't done? You guys are wayyyy more up on this than me, so I'd appreciate the help. 
> 
> Arigato. 
> 
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