Revision of Broadcast EEO Rule Enforcement

This Order and Policy Statement adopts a change in the Commission's enforcement of the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Rule for religious broadcasters. The announced change is similar to suggestions made by some commenters in response to the Commission's Order and Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), MM Docket No. 96-16, which requested comment on ways to improve the Commission's EEO Rule and policies to offer relief to distinctly situated broadcasters without undermining the effectiveness of its EEO program. The Commission will now permit religious broadcasters, as defined in the Order and Policy Statement, to establish religious belief or affiliation as a job qualification for all station employees. The Commission believes that this action will eliminate the potential danger of impermissible governmental interference with a religious broadcaster's judgment in the conduct and definition of its religious affairs.