FCC: Hawaii Emergency Management Official Not Cooperating

FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes signaled the commission is running into some pushback as it investigates the accidental triggering Jan. 13 of a nuclear missile alert in Hawaii.

That came at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday (Jan. 25) on Emergency Alert Systems, including wireless emergency alerts.

"We are disappointed that one key employee, the person who transmitted the false alert, is refusing to cooperate with our investigation." She said she hoped they would reconsider.

Fowlkes did say she was pleased with the level of cooperation the FCC had gotten from the leadership of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.