NEWSrelease

News from the National Captioning Institute, Inc.

Date: July 9, 2002

Contact: Jay Feinberg

703-917-7600 (V/TTY)

703-917-9853 (FAX)

jfeinberg@ncicap.org

National Captioning Institute Participates in the New FCC Media Security and Reliability Council

Washington, DC – The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has asked National Captioning Institute (NCI) President and COO Jack Gates to serve on a new Federal Advisory Committee to the FCC, the Media Security and Reliability Council (MSRC).
Created in response to the events of September 11, 2001, the Council will “provide a valuable fact-finding service about dealing with communications issues in emergency situations that will benefit Federal, state and local government officials as well as all communications industries,” reported FCC Chairman Michael Powell.

Gates will join CEOs and senior representatives of mass media companies, cable television and satellite service providers, trade associations, public safety entities, manufacturers and other related industries. As the only representative of the closed captioning industry, Gates noted that “My service on this Council is an honor and an important opportunity for me to extend NCI’s mission of providing all television viewers with access to vital news and information and to represent the closed captioning industry in this critical area.”

MSRC’s members will study, develop and report on best practices designed to assure the optimal reliability, robustness and security of the broadcast and multichannel video programming distribution industries.

Gates will also serve on one of the council’s two major working groups to develop detailed recommendations to help broadcasting, cable and satellite services deal with public emergency situations. The Public Communications and Safety Working Group will: address a variety of issues relating to public communications and safety in response to physical attacks and natural disasters; study means by which the government and the media communicate emergency and public safety information; and consider any special requirements needed to communicate such information to people who are hearing or visually impaired.

With offices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area; Burbank, CA; New York, NY; Dallas, TX; and London, England, the nonprofit National Captioning Institute is the global captioning leader, supplying the highest quality closed-captioning and related services to the broadcast television, cable and home video industries.

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