FCC concerns over a Section 325c permit tied to an entity believed by some to be directly tied to the People’s Republic of China’s Communist Party resulted in the silence earlier this year of a Mexican “border blaster” that had been serving Mandarin-speaking audiences across Southern California.
Now, Chairman Ajit Pai has introduced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would “ensure transparency of foreign government sponsored broadcast content” — a move that could prevent further questions as to who’s behind the content of such operations as URadio.
Pai on Tuesday distributed to his fellow Commissioners a proposal that would establish “strong, clear disclosure requirements for broadcast television and radio content sponsored or provided by foreign governments.”
The NPRM seeks to amend section 73.1212 of the Commission’s rules to require a specific disclosure at the time of broadcast if a foreign governmental entity has paid a radio or television station, directly or indirectly, to air material, or if the programming was provided to the station free of charge by such an entity as an inducement to broadcast the material. The proposed rules would provide standardized disclosure language for stations to use in such instances to specifically identify the foreign government involved.
The Commission’s current rules require many disclosures related to broadcast sponsorship but do not specify when and how foreign government sponsorship should be disclosed to the public.
These existing rules, which date back to the Radio Act of 1927, predate the Commission itself and were intended to prohibit stations from disguising advertising as program content.
If ultimately enacted, Chairman Pai’s proposed rules would further the critical goal of transparency and apply it to foreign governments and political parties as well as their agents.
“American TV viewers and radio listeners have the right to know if a foreign government is behind the programming they are consuming,” said Pai. “With some station content coming from the likes of China and Russia, it is time to update our rules and shed more sunlight on these practices. I hope my colleagues will act quickly to approve this proposal so we can help the American public be informed when they may be watching or listening to foreign-government propaganda.”
The NPRM undoubtedly comes under political pressure from such Capitol Hill figures as Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee who has been a vocal critic of Phoenix TV, a Mandarin-language operation.
“China should not be able to set up shop in Mexico and blanket America with propaganda,” Cruz said earlier this year. In fact, he intended to introduce legislation in the senate that would bar the People’s Republic of China and other foreign governments from “exploiting” FCC loopholes to propagandize to Americans from radio stations in Mexico or Canada.
Now, Pai has perhaps moved ahead of Cruz in putting foreign broadcasters on the spot.
And, it could prevent a repeat such actions as the June 24 shutdown of URadio’s broadcasts to the U.S. by way of Tijuana, Baja California-based “border blaster” XEWW-AM 690.
On June 22, the FCC gave the entity behind URadio 48 hours to sever its programming pipeline XEWW for delivery of its music and messages to U.S.-based audiences. The reason? An application to the Commission’s International Division failed to include a key participant, Phoenix Radio US.
According to the FCC, Phoenix Radio is funded by the Chinese government. According to the International Bureau, Phoenix Radio is partially owned by two entities with Chinese government direct investment — Extra Steps Investment Ltd. and China Wise International Ltd.
On August 13, a revised permit to deliver programs to foreign broadcast stations was accepted for filing at the Commission. It seeks the FCC’s OK for a Section 325c permit for GLR Southern and its parent company, H&H Group USA LLC; and Phoenix Radio US “to deliver a full range of Mandarin Chinese-language programming including music, entertainment, weather reports, local (Los Angeles) traffic reports and local Chinese community news” to XEWW.
Phoenix Radio produces the programming in the Irwindale studio for URadio. RBR+TVBR independently confirmed in April that URadio’s base of operation is an office building prominently displaying a Phoenix TV sign at the entrance to its parking lot.
“URadio was founded in 2018 in the U.S. under the supervision of FCC and has been complying with all applicable U.S. laws,” it says on its website. “Our mission is to serve the Chinese community in the greater Los Angeles area by providing information and assisting U.S. government in promoting public policies in the U.S. that is important to our community’s welfare.”
Pai’s NPRM also likely puts English-language, Russia-influenced Sputnik on notice that it must fully disclose who is behind the dollars — or, in this case, rubles. Thus, House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and fellow Democrat Anna Eshoo are likely pleased with the proposed rulemaking.
In February, Eshoo and Doyle took Pai to task for his “inaction” on addressing Sputnik’s operations in the U.S. It started in 2019, when a Florida-based operation named RM Broadcasting, which operates Sputnik in the U.S., was ordered by a federal judge to register as a foreign agent.
Then came news that Sputnik is leasing six hours of air time on a Kansas City trimulcast after already providing programming 24/7 to Washington, D.C. listeners to a FM translator owned by prominent D.C. communications attorney John Garziglia.
In DOJ filings, RM confirmed that it was paid $1.43 million between November 24, 2017 and June 2019 by Rossíya Segódnya, the government news agency created in 2013 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In Eshoo’s view, Pai had fallen short in enforcement of the Foreign Entities Reform Act, which requires U.S. media outlets to disclose state-sponsored programming.
Pai’s decision to tee up the NPRM now could be political. In February, Eshoo and Doyle penned a letter to Pai that said, “Americans are currently in the process of deciding who they will elect to lead our country, and it’s critical that they are not unknowingly influenced by foreign propaganda. The FCC’s continued inaction, after receiving many Congressional letters from us about this critically important issue, is a stunning abdication of its responsibility to protect American airwaves.”
It is unclear how stations that air programming from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. such as As it Happens and entertainment and music show Q would be impact. The same goes for BBC World Service news as provided by the British Broadcasting Corp. However, it seems clear that “hostile” governments are the focus of this NPRM — putting Moscow and Beijing in D.C.’s negative spotlight anew.
