U.S. House Passes the MEDIA Diversity Act of 2021

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, July 20, 2021

U.S. Congress

The U.S. House has passed the MEDIA Diversity Act of 2021 (H.R. 1754) and a resolution reaffirming Congress's commitment to media diversity and pledging to work with the private sector to develop common ground solutions to eliminate barriers to media diversity (H.Res. 277).

In a statement, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith said, "NAB applauds the bipartisan passage by the House of Representatives of legislation promoting solutions that address barriers to entry into the media industry for underserved populations. We thank Reps. Val Demings (D-FL) and Billy Long (R-MO) for their leadership on today's advances and will continue working with lawmakers on legislative proposals that would help achieve a media industry that better reflects our nation.

"As a longtime advocate for market-based approaches to address media diversity, NAB supports additional legislation championed by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) reinstating the tax certificate program to create new opportunities for diverse voices to own local radio and TV stations."

NAB also said that a tax certificate program would provide a tax incentive to those who sold their majority interest in a broadcast station to minorities. The program was previously implemented by the Federal Communications Commission in 1978 and increased minority ownership in broadcast stations by more than 550 percent before its repeal in 1995.