As a good federal agency, the FCC is adept at producing prodigious amounts of paper and for decades it has been a worthy customer of the Government Printing Office. But due to the rise, complexity and increasing utility of the internet, much of the Commission’s commerce has moved online. If you have business to conduct with the Commission, unfamiliarity with the electronic transactional environment in which the FCC operates can severely hamper your efficiency, or worse, place you at a serious disadvantage.
Our guide to educate broadcasters on how to utilize the FCC’s online resources can help you navigate the FCC’s Web Site in a smarter and more efficient manner. In part one, we focus on the information maintained at FCC.gov. Part two is a tutorial on navigating the FCC’s application filing systems and electronic databases.
The FCC has created one of the federal government’s most extensive web sites. It is the primary vehicle for broadcasters to file electronically various documents with the Commission, to view and read the Daily Digest, to obtain copies of documents the Commission releases; to obtain copies of applications and pleadings submitted by others and filed electronically with the Commission; to access various FCC databases; to gather information and obtain authorizations; to acquire forms; and to check the status of applications through the ever-increasing number of hyperlinks available on the Web Site.
Everyone who interacts with the FCC should be aware of, and learn to access, the vast amount of information that is available on the Commission’s Web Site. Almost anything you need to know about FCC rules and regulations is on the FCC’s Web Site. A senior FCC official suggested that before calling a member of the Commission’s staff for information, one would be well advised to visit the Web Site first, because the answers too many questions are readily available.
That advice also applies to interactions with your station’s communications lawyer.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use it.
Even for individuals who do not consider themselves to be “Internet fluent,” the FCC Web Site is relatively easy to use. After devoting a few minutes to reviewing the Web Site’s organization — and reading this article chances are that you will be able to find the information that you seek. Caveat: The FCC’s Web Site is a “work in progress” that is continually being updated, maintained and otherwise improved, for example the FCC recently issued a Report on Process Reform which is aimed at revamping the FCC.gov Web Site and improving the Web Site’s search functionality.
The following basic guidelines are designed to assist a first‑time visitor:
Where To Start
Type the FCC’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator) into your Web browsing software, for example, Google Chrome or Internet Explorer. The FCC’s URL is http://www.fcc.gov. When your computer loads the FCC’s homepage you will see several links to various FCC bureaus and offices, the most recent headlines involving the Commission, a list of upcoming events, and a list on the right side of the page called “Quick Links” that allows you to easily access the most useful portions of the FCC’s webpage.
If you are unfamiliar with the FCC’s Web Site, we suggest that you explore the layout of the homepage. Start in the upper left hand corner and scan your cursor left to right, top to bottom. The FCC homepage works like conventional web sites; anywhere that you move your cursor and get a hand symbol you can get information. When you find what you’re looking for, click the link and your browser will take you there. If you follow a link and it takes you somewhere you didn’t want to go, click the back button on your browser and it will take you back to where you were. If that does not work, and in some cases it will not, look for and click on the FCC Home hyperlink.
The FCC also keeps an updated staff directory online in case you need to find the telephone number and email address of Commission staff. For example, if you wanted to locate contact information for Peter Doyle, the Chief of the Media Bureau’s Audio Division. You would start with the heading on the horizontal navigation bar at the top of the homepage that says “The FCC,” and then click “Find People.” When you click the Find People link it takes you to the “Finding People At The FCC” page. If you type “Peter” in the Name To Search For “box” with or without quotation marks and click the SUBMIT button, the search engine will find every occurrence of the name Peter in the FCC’s Phone Book, even if it is embedded in another word. You can also search by last name, so if you type “Doyle” in the Name To Search For “box” your search will be streamlined.
The FCC at Work
You might also want to get general information on how the FCC functions. Under the heading “Our Work,” there is a link labeled “What we do.” When you click on the link, it takes you to a page giving a broad overview of what the FCC does and how it is organized. If you are interested in learning about the organization of the Commission, to look at the FCC’s Organizational Chart, which is available on this page.
At the top of the left margin, you will find a box that says “SEARCH.” This box will enable you to find information using words, call signs, names of types of documents (for example “Open Proceedings”) or other keywords that might be located within a document. The search engine searches the public areas of the FCC’s Web Site for information that meets your criteria and, considering a number of factors, ranks it on the basis of the probability that it is what you’re looking for. An especially useful function of the Search bar is to find any FCC documents that mention a call sign. Simply type the call sign of your station, or your competitor’s (more on that in part two) into the search function, click the magnifying glass symbol at the end of the search bar, and the page will load all the FCC documents that mention the call sign.
The FCC Encyclopedia
You might be interested in finding out what’s holding up the processing of one of your station’s applications. If so, look at Broadcast Radio AM and FM Application Statuses. This information can be found either by scrolling over the heading that says “Our Work” and clicking “FCC Encyclopedia.” The FCC Encyclopedia is filled with useful guides arranged in alphabetical order. To look for the “Broadcast Radio AM and FM Application Status Lists,” scroll through the “B” section of the encyclopedia until you find that link. Once you click this link, it will load a page containing various broadcast status lists, so click the blocked and/or unblocked status report links and scroll down until you find what you are looking for. Make sure to bookmark this page as well as any other that you’ll be referring to on a periodic basis; the bookmark creates a direct link to that information, so you won’t have to search for it again—at least until the FCC replaces it with one that’s new and improved!
Chairman and Commissioners
In addition to the homepages of the Commission bureaus and offices, the FCC commissioners have their own homepages. Although the commissioners’ homepages differ, they generally contain the commissioner’s statements, speeches, biographies, initiatives, identification of staff members and other useful information.
Daily Digest
An important feature of the FCC’s Web Site is the “Daily Digest” homepage that contains links to the current FCC Daily Digest. The Daily Digest homepage can be found listed in the “Quick Links” section of the FCC.gov homepage. The Daily Digest homepage contains a list of documents and public notices released by the FCC as well as information on how to order a subscription to receive the Daily Digest by e‑mail. There is a link to the full text of the document under each caption of the FCC release listed in the online Daily Digest. If you are looking for a document and know the date it was released, you can browse for it the documents in the Previous Issues Daily Digests. Additionally, you can use the Electronic Document Management System (‘EDOCS’) Quick Search to search a database of Daily Digest entries for FCC documents placed on the Web site since 1996.
From the Daily Digest webpage, you can also access a “Recent Releases” homepage. This page is constantly updated and is a list of summaries of FCC actions posted in a chronological order. Each summary has a link to the full document. This can be a useful webpage for finding any of the following materials: FCC headlines, Congressional hearings of interest to the FCC, periodic lists of filings in docketed proceedings and ex parte notices, the FCC calendar and the FCC Open Meeting agenda, statements by FCC Commissioners and Commission rulings on various broadcast matters.
In part two, we will provide step-by-step guidance on the FCC’s online filing systems and aspects of doing research on matters relating to your station.
–Erwin G. Krasnow, a former General Counsel of the National Association of Broadcasters, is the co-chair of the Communications Group at the law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer. He has been described by the Legal Times as the dean of the communications bar.” He can be reached at (202) 298-2161 and [email protected].
–Colin Black Andrews is an Associate Attorney in the Communications Practice Group of Garvey Schubert Barer. Prior to joining GSB, he worked for the General Counsel at the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. He can be reached at (202) 968-1736 or [email protected].
