More than 550 radio and television broadcasters from across the country are in Washington, DC today for the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual State Leadership Conference. The conference began Tuesday at Washington Nationals Park, minutes away from NAB headquarters, with remarks from policymakers, panel discussions, and briefings to prep attendees to fan out across Capitol Hill today (March 6) for meetings with legislators.
In his remarks to attendees, NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt highlighted the grassroots power of local broadcasters. He underscored the critical role local stations play in delivering reliable and trusted information to their communities, according to NAB press materials. LeGeyt also addressed key issues for broadcasters and pushed for passage of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) (S. 1094), which would create a limited safe harbor from antitrust laws in order to allow news publishers and broadcast news operations to collectively bargain with a covered platform over the terms and conditions of the tech platform’s access to digital news content. He also talked up the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which has received overwhelming bipartisan support.