In an April 29 complaint filed with the FCC and shared with CNA, three Catholic broadcasters — Ave Maria Radio, Armor of God Catholic Radio, and La Promesa Foundation — argued that the new regulations would “adversely affect them as well as all religious broadcasters generally.”
La Promesa Foundation operates Guadalupe Radio Network, a major EWTN affiliate, as are Ave Maria Radio and Armor of God Catholic Radio. (EWTN also owns Catholic News Agency.)
The FCC in its February ruling introduced a mandate that stations must make the 395-B forms public, because “doing so will ensure maximum accuracy of the submitted data, is consistent with Congress’ goal to maximize the utility of the data an agency collects for the benefit of the public, allows us to produce the most useful reports possible for the benefit of Congress and the public, and allows for third-party testing of the accuracy of our data analyses.”
“Collection, analysis, and availability of this information will support greater understanding of this important industry,” the FCC ruling says.
In their joint complaint, the radio stations argue that the new rule “would advance the interests of the LGBTQ lobby and would chill the religious freedoms … enshrined in the First Amendment of the federal Constitution.”
Mike Jones, vice president and general manager at Ave Maria Radio, called the FCC’s action “pernicious” and said that their attorney offered to file a complaint with the FCC on their behalf and on behalf of the other stations.
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