Another EEO audit was announced by the FCC today – hitting about 100 radio stations this time around. The Commission has pledged to audit 5% of all broadcast stations and cable systems each year to assure their compliance with the Commission’s EEO rules – requiring wide dissemination of information about job openings and supplemental efforts to educate their communities about job opportunities in the media industry. Today’s Public Notice announcing the audit is here. The list of stations subject to the audit is here. The form of the audit letter is available here. Responses from the audited stations are due by September 12.
All stations should review the audit letter as it provides a good outline of the documents that stations should be retaining to demonstrate their compliance with the FCC’s EEO rules. For more information about compliance with the EEO rules, see our advisory on the basics of the EEO rules, here, and our most recent advisory on the requirements for the annual EEO public inspection file report, here.