Craig Fugate, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator from 2009-2017, has written to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in support of the proposed rule change that would permit radio broadcasters to broadcast geo-targeted programming, including emergency alerts in times of regional and local crises.
"I have witnessed first-hand that our oldest form of broadcast, radio, remains the most reliable, stable form of communicating," said Fugate. "Radio has literally weathered all forms of disasters -- be it California wildfires, where 200 cellular towers were destroyed, hurricanes like Sandy and Katrina, which overloaded most forms of communications, or coastal floods in Florida.
"Without a doubt, localized radio broadcast updates of today's COVID-19 crisis would serve the public good by communicating public safety information pertinent to specific portions of the airwave's audience. Consider the benefit of reaching a 25-mile portion of a radio signal about local test sites or shelters versus informing that same station's 100-mile audience that do not need those specifics but require their own, zoned, details," added Fugate.
