Broadcasters = First Responders?

BROADCASTERS = FIRST RESPONDERS?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: P.J. Bednarski]
At the National Association of Broadcasters convention this week, Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA) will reveal details of a bill that she will introduce: The First Response Broadcasters Act of 2007. The bill would give broadcasters special privileges at a time of disasters like the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, essentially making them the equivalent of “first responders” to catastrophes. The bill would also make broadcasters eligible for matching grants administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to aid in the construction or reinforcement of on-air facilities. After Katrina, only one television station, WWL New Orleans, remained on the air and did so because it had planned for the emergency. The bill would create a three-year pilot program, funded at $10 million a year, to encourage broadcasters to obtain “disaster-resistant” equipment. Broadcasters would have access to federal supplies of fuel, food, water and other essentials. And stations would be able to retain such necessities without fear that they would be confiscated by authorities. A third component of the Landrieu bill would make the local municipality the authority for issuing and honoring press credentials.
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