Broadcasters use the public airwaves for free in exchange for a commitment to serve and inform their communities. If you want to know exactly what your local broadcasters are doing to meet those public-interest obligations, the best place to look is their public files.

Unfortunately, public files are currently difficult to access, requiring curious residents to drive down to the station during business hours. In large media markets, a trip to view the public file could mean traveling over 100 miles. Finding the right information in the station among towers of dusty paper files can be confusing — and that’s assuming the information you’re looking for is there at all. Public files lack critical documentation viewers need to understand how their broadcasters are serving them.

Today the FCC announced that it will move toward digitizing public files and improving program reporting requirements for broadcasters. Free Press Policy Counsel Corie Wright has been advocating for the modernization of public file regulations, which haven’t been updated since the 1980s: “We’re well into the digital age yet broadcaster public reports are still buried in paper files stacked in basements, instead of online where the public can more easily access them. And broadcasters continue to rely on an outdated system of reporting that falls short of providing the public with useful information on the local TV stations licensed to serve them.”

The FCC’s proposed changes have the potential to make this information truly transparent and accessible. However, it remains to be seen whether the Commission will require broadcasters to report useful information. Will stations be required to disclose whether their news is produced by a competitor through a covert consolidation agreement? And will they be required to reveal how much reporting a given station produces— and how much of that reporting is coverage of local issues?

What can we do with this information? We can hold our stations accountable. We can engage in a dialogue with our local broadcasters when programming does not meet local needs. We can inform ourselves about who is paying for the political advertisements we will see during this election year. In short, the right information would empower local communities to make informed decisions and create positive local change.

In the coming month, the FCC will hear from broadcasters who want to limit their reporting requirements. It’s critical that the agency also hear from viewers who want to know how their local stations are serving their communities. At Free Press, we’ll work to make sure you know exactly what’s going on at your local TV stations. You can take this short survey today and tell us what you’d like to know about your local news.

Photo via (cc) Laughing Squid