BROADCASTERS FACE ‘DIFFICULT’ JOB OF COVERING HOMELAND SECURITY
Broadcasters “did your job of keeping all of us informed and aware” during Sept. 11 crisis, Office of Homeland Security Dir. Tom Ridge told broadcasters Mon. at NAB’s Service to America Summit. However, he said, broadcasters’ “new job” of reporting on formation of Homeland Security Dept. will be “more difficult” because there are “few visuals” and “a lot of gray areas.” Ridge said that covering creation of new agency would be “one of the most important, if not the most important, stories of our lifetime.”
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Ridge repeatedly complimented broadcasters for Sept. 11 efforts, noting that they “accepted the reality of lost ad revenue at a time when ads were scarce” in order to provide extensive coverage. He said broadcasters even “won over some old critics,” such as ex-FCC Chmn. Newton Minow.
Homeland Security “is not an inside-the-beltway story,” Ridge said. He said he hoped broadcasters would give same attention to agency creation as they gave to Sept. 11: “This is about saving lives, and there is no more important story than that.” Ridge said that story would “certainly have its share of conflict and criticism,” particularly in town “as turf-conscious as Washington.” But he expressed optimism about bipartisan support.
Ridge said new cabinet-level department would have advantage of singular focus on security, instead of having many agencies having security as relatively peripheral responsibility. He said people in those agencies were “patriots all,” but security wasn’t their main responsibility.
NAB, meanwhile, said broadcasters set record for value of public service announcements (PSAs) in 2001, even without counting ad revenue lost because of 24-hour Sept. 11 coverage. According to its survey, broadcasters said they accounted for $9.9 billion of PSAs and money raised for charity and disaster relief in 2001, up from $8.1 billion in 1999 and $6.8 billion in 1997. Latest figure includes $1 billion directly related to Sept. 11, NAB said. NAB Pres. Edward Fritts called $9.9 billion figure “extremely conservative.”
NAB survey said local TV stations aired average of 140 PSAs per week in 2001 and radio stations 189 per week. It said 63% of PSAs related to issues of local importance. Census didn’t include value pf public service at broadcast network level, or value of time of employees participating in community charity events, it said.