*Pages 1--14 from Microsoft Word - 36256* MEDIA SECURITY AND RELIABILITY COUNCIL Comprehensive Best Practices Recommendations March 2, 2004 Communications Infrastructure Security, Access & Restoration Working Group Prevention Subcommittee National Best Practices - General 1. All media companies should reassess their vulnerabilities considering the possibility of deliberate attacks in addition to natural disasters and equipment failures and take appropriate measures to prevent loss of service and to expedite rapid recovery. 1.1 In contemplating the possibility of deliberate attacks, vulnerability assessments should consider system redundancies and their geographic distribution. 1.2 Because commercial communications satellites are the predominant means of national signal distribution for mass media, the vulnerability of the satellite infrastructure, especially TT& C, should continue to be examined and reinforced. 1.2.1 Each major source of news should consider alternatives to commercial communication satellites (e. g., DBS satellites, Internet, etc.) as a last- resort backup means of signal distribution, even if technical signal quality is substantially degraded under such conditions. 2. Each national media facility (television network facilities, radio network facilities and cable channel origination facilities) should have a vulnerability assessment and disaster recovery plan that is periodically reviewed, updated and practiced. 3. Under government declared emergency conditions, news media should consider agreements that allow unconventional flexibility in local use and retransmission of the content to serve the public interest. 1 2 3.1 In order to cost- effectively gain additional geographic diversity, news networks should consider the possibility of a backup carriage plan with other non- news networks that can be exercised under government declared emergency conditions. National Television Best Practices Physical Security 4. National television networks and news channels should have appropriate physical security, augmented by security personnel and/ or video surveillance at their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, network origination and control centers and satellite communications facilities. Backup Power 5. National television networks and news channels should take appropriate measures to provide backup power capabilities for their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, network origination and control centers and satellite communications facilities. Redundant Communications 6. National television networks and news channels should ensure that they have robust and redundant means of communications with their local affiliates. 7. National television networks and news channels should ensure that they have backup satellite phones or fiber links with their news origination centers. Redundant Facilities 8. National television networks and news channels should plan to have emergency origination capability at a separate location from their primary studio (e. g., backup studio, SNG remote, etc). 8.1 During government declared emergency conditions television news networks should consider the possibility of a backup carriage plan with other non- news networks to gain cost- effective additional geographic diversity. 2 3 National Radio Best Practices Physical Security 9. National radio networks should have appropriate physical security, augmented by security personnel and/ or video surveillance at their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, network origination and control centers and satellite communications facilities. Backup Power 10. National radio broadcasters should take appropriate measures (such as distributed transmission system) to provide backup power capabilities for their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, network origination and control centers and satellite communications facilities. Redundant Communications 11. National radio networks should ensure that they have redundant and geographically diverse means of communications with their local affiliates, including backup signal feeds on one or more alternatives to their primary satellite distribution (e. g., terrestrial lines, Internet connections, satellite telephone, etc). Redundant Facilities 12. National radio networks should plan to have emergency news origination capability at a separate location from their primary studio and/ or intra- industry agreements for access to external news programming in the event of a national emergency. 12.1 During government declared emergency conditions radio news networks should consider the possibility of a backup carriage plan with other non-news networks to gain cost- effective additional geographic diversity. National Satellite Best Practices Physical Security 13. Satellite television and radio service providers should have appropriate physical security, augmented by security personnel and/ or video surveillance at their key facilities, including network origination centers, satellite control facilities, satellite communications facilities and terrestrial repeater sites. 3 4 Backup Power 14. Satellite television and radio service providers should take appropriate measures to provide backup power capabilities for their key facilities, including network origination centers, satellite control facilities, satellite communications facilities and terrestrial repeater sites. Redundant Communications 15. Satellite television and radio service providers should ensure that they have geographically diverse redundancy for local- into- local signal feeds to their uplink sites. 16. Satellite television and radio service providers should ensure that they have redundant and geographically diverse means of communications with their news programming sources, including backup signal feeds on one or more alternatives to their primary satellite distribution (e. g., terrestrial lines, Internet connections, satellite telephone, etc). Redundant Facilities 17. Satellite television and radio service providers should plan to have emergency access to news sources at a separate location from their primary facility and/ or intra- industry agreements that ensure carriage of news programming in the event of a national emergency. 18. Satellite television and radio service providers should ensure that they have geographically diverse redundancy for uplink and satellite control facilities. Local Best Practices - General 19. Each local media facility (television stations, radio stations and cable headends) should have a vulnerability assessment and disaster recovery plan that is periodically reviewed, updated and practiced. 20. Local media (television stations, radio stations and cable operators) in each market should cooperate to assess their collective vulnerability and to develop reciprocal agreements and a cooperative emergency response plan to ensure that some media will remain in service even under extreme circumstances. 20.1 Vulnerability assessments should consider the location and geographic distribution of key facilities in the market, such as news studios, ENG receive sites, towers and cable headends. 4 5 20.2 Vulnerability assessments and cooperative emergency response plans should consider the scenario of widespread power outage and the resulting importance of radio to reach battery powered and automotive receivers. 21. All Local Media (e. g., Television Broadcasters, Cable Operators and Radio Broadcasters) in a market should collaborate to increase their collective geographic diversity and to establish redundant interconnections capable of supporting emergency operations. 21.1 Cable systems and local broadcasters in a market should work jointly to develop prevention plans and to improve the redundancies in their interconnections. 21.2 Radio broadcasters should work with television broadcasters and cable operators to establish diverse primary and backup signal feeds from local television broadcasters and cable systems for use in emergency situations. 22. Local Public/ Private Partnerships should jointly examine their key suppliers to ensure that critical resources will have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of all of the organizations that may be relying on them during an emergency. 23. Local Public/ Private Partnerships should jointly examine their key suppliers’ emergency operations and recovery plans to ensure that they will be able to provide the needed materials and services to local media companies during an emergency. Local Radio Best Practices Physical Security 24. Radio broadcasters should have appropriate physical security, augmented by security personnel and/ or video surveillance at their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, satellite transmit and receive sites and antenna/ transmitter sites. Backup Power 25. Radio Broadcasters should employ diverse power grid sources wherever feasible. 26. Radio broadcasters should take appropriate measures to provide backup power capabilities for their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, satellite communications and transmitters. 5 6 Redundant Communications 27. Radio broadcasters with local news origination should ensure that they have robust and redundant ways to communicate with external news services and remote news teams, such as the use of mobile radio and Internet to augment cell phones. 28. Radio broadcasters should have backup signal feeds to their primary satellite transmit and receive sites. 29. Radio broadcasters should have redundant signal paths to their primary and backup transmission facilities. Redundant Facilities 30. Radio broadcasters with local news origination should plan to have emergency origination capability at a separate location from their primary studio (e. g., backup studio, transmitter site, remote van, another station, etc). 30.1 Radio broadcasters with local news origination should have a remote vehicle, or some means of delivering live news and information from a remote site. 30.2 Radio broadcasters should have the capability of receiving a remote feed at an additional site from their primary studio (e. g., directly at their tower site, at a backup studio, etc). 31. Radio broadcasters should have a backup satellite transmitter and receiver, or an alternate means (e. g., a Satellite Radio receiver, a dedicated phone line or a streaming audio Internet connection) to send and receive signals from and to national news services in emergency situations. 32. Radio broadcasters should have a backup transmitter, and should attempt to make practical arrangements for geographic diversity where possible (e. g., provisions for emergency use of other backup transmitter/ antenna facilities in the community or other means). 33. With the cooperation of federal and local policy makers, all radio broadcasters in a market should collaborate to increase their collective site diversity and redundancy, including their collective news studios, operations, satellite transmit and receive facilities and transmitter and antenna sites. 6 7 Local Television Best Practices Physical Security 34. Television broadcasters should have appropriate physical security, augmented by security personnel and/ or video surveillance at their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, satellite communications facilities and antenna/ transmitter sites. Backup Power 35. Television broadcasters should employ diverse power grid sources wherever feasible. 36. Television broadcasters should take appropriate measures to provide backup power capabilities for their key facilities, including studios/ newsrooms, satellite communications and transmitters. Redundant Communications 37. Television broadcasters with local news origination should ensure that they have robust and redundant ways to communicate with external news services and remote news teams, such as the use of mobile radio and Internet to augment cell phones as well as some means of receiving remote feeds (e. g., directly at tower site or at a cable headend) and delivering live news and information from a remote site (e. g., ENG/ SNG truck). 38. Television broadcasters should have backup signal feeds to their primary and backup satellite transmit and receive sites. 39. Television broadcasters should have redundant signal paths to their primary and backup transmission facilities. Redundant Facilities 40. Television broadcasters with local news origination should plan to have emergency origination capability at a separate location from their primary studio (e. g., backup studio, transmitter site, ENG remote, another station, cable headend, etc). 40.1 Television broadcasters with local news origination should have an ENG or SNG truck, or some means of delivering live news and information from a remote site. 7 8 40.2 Television broadcasters should have the capability of receiving a remote feed at an additional site from their primary studio (e. g., directly at their tower site, at a backup studio, etc). 41. Television broadcasters should have a backup satellite transmitter and receiver, or an alternate means (e. g., a DBS receiver, or a streaming video over a broadband Internet connection) to send and receive signals from and to national news services in emergency situations. (We recognize that there may be copyright issues involved but recommend that operators negotiate a reasonable solution). 42. Television broadcasters should have a backup satellite transmitter and receiver, or an alternate means (e. g., a Satellite Radio receiver, a dedicated phone line or a streaming audio Internet connection) to send and receive signals from and to national news services in emergency situations. 42.1 Television broadcasters should examine the possibility of their DTV facilities providing emergency backup capabilities to their analog facilities. 43. Television broadcasters should provide the same prevention approaches to their DTV facilities, to the extent economically feasible. 44. With the cooperation of federal and local policy makers, all television broadcasters in a market should collaborate to increase their collective site diversity and redundancy, including their collective news studios, operations, satellite transmit and receive facilities and transmitter and antenna sites. Local Cable Television Best Practices Physical Security 45. Cable Operators should have appropriate physical security, augmented by security personnel and/ or video surveillance at their key facilities, including their headend, hub, plant and customer service facilities. Backup Power 46. Cable Operators should employ diverse power grid sources wherever feasible. 47. Cable Operators should take appropriate measures to provide backup power capabilities for their key facilities, including their headend, hub, plant and customer service facilities. 8 10 4. Radio and television stations and cable systems should implement studio and transmitter reciprocity arrangements to ensure signal availability in all markets. 5. Television stations should develop plans for utilization of ENG trucks as emergency alternate studios, with microwave links at transmitter sites for both analog and digital service. 6. Television stations should create plans for alternate paths to cable headends. Alternate emergency distribution paths could include: DTV transmitter to cable headend, downconverted to NTSC; SNG to DBS to cable headend and DBS to homes; cross- connecting cable systems; opening local- to- local DBS service to all subscribers on an emergency basis; low data rate Internet links; and portable microwave links. 7. Radio and television stations should develop recovery timelines in situations where backup facilities exist. Stations with backup facilities should be prepared to provide service within 15 minutes of loss of primary facility. 8. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or another appropriate federal entity, should acquire and administer emergency response broadcast equipment packages. These containerized recovery systems would be stored in regional depots for use in emergency situations and would include self- contained VHF, UHF, AM and FM transmission units and mobile generators, along with sections for 500- foot and 100- foot towers. The federal government should also have the authority to designate emergency channels for television and radio where needed. 9. Federal preemption authority should be established during declared emergencies for replacement towers and other essential broadcast and delivery media needs. 10. Radio and television stations should have the ability to access alternate telecommunications capabilities. These may include: satellite phones, amateur radio facilities in studios, and alternate 450 MHz communication repeater sites with portable handheld units. Future Technologies/ Digital Solutions Subcommittee 1. Government should coordinate development of a Media Common Alert Protocol (MCAP). This protocol should be designed to deliver emergency messages via digital networks. It should flow over all methods of digital transport and be received by all digital receivers. This protocol should be optimized for point- to-multi- point networks and devices only. 1.1 Key attributes of the MCAP should be addressability, scaleability, interoperability and prioritizing. 10 12 3.2 Local media must be included in the creation of the communications and warning plan and understand their key role in its successful implementation. 3.3 The skill set of both federal and local agency participants should include training and process knowledge of how to work with and the benefits of utilizing the media to inform the public in a timely fashion during emergencies. Emergency managers should have a working knowledge of how to access EAS and other public warning systems. 3.4 Local media should assist government to create and deliver more effective public education about emergencies and preparedness. 3.4.1 Local Media should assist State and Local government to develop a public education program that includes actions that the public can take (or refrain from) that will assist in the response to and recovery from disasters. 3.4.2 State and Local public education programs should be coordinated with Federal government programs of public information and education. 3.5 Local media should agree to develop consistent presentation guidelines to ensure that all emergency delivery systems work well together to accurately deliver emergency information to the entire community. 3.6 Government and local media should conduct regular testing and rehearsals of emergency communications plans. 3.7 Appropriate policies for the judicious use of emergency communications should be created to preserve public confidence and the integrity and urgency of such communications. 4. All local media should form emergency jurisdiction/ market cooperatives to assure delivery of local government emergency messages in a coordinated way to all constituencies in the community. 4.1 Local media in each market should be encouraged to create media pools for risk communication and warning; in markets where pools exist, a working committee should take the pool to the higher level of security, isolating it from the traditional news coverage pool concerns. 4.1.1 Local media should consider the creation of an Emergency Communications Coordinator position to serve as single media point of contact for government and develop a cooperative relationship with the local government lead agency. 12 13 4.1.2 State and Local government should consider equipping their Emergency Operating Centers (EOCs) with the basic audio and/ or video equipment that allows them to provide feeds of local government officials to the local media. 4.1.3 Government and Media representatives from their technical staffs should meet regularly to ensure that joint plans and procedures have been implemented properly and that the supporting infrastructure is maintained in good working condition. 4.2 Media and government jurisdictions should agree to take pre- planned actions upon authenticated notice from authorized government agencies, and incorporate these pre- planned actions in overall emergency management training exercises. 4.2.1 Local media and appropriate public safety and other government agencies should establish local and state emergency communication committees to plan well coordinated community responses for disasters. 4.2.2 Local media should engage in coordinated activities to assure the flow of emergency information using multiple languages and means to make this information available to persons with disabilities in their communities. 4.3 Pre- planned coordinated activities/ roles appropriate to local conditions for each media under various scenarios (e. g., the type and number of delivery systems continuing to function) should be created, developed, rehearsed and tested. 4.3.1 In particular, emergency communications plans must take into account the probability of widespread power outages when AM and FM radio is the only way to communicate to battery powered receivers in the community. 5. As the nation’s current means to issue timely warnings through mass media, the Emergency Alert System should be periodically tested, upgraded as necessary, implemented and maintained at the local, state, and national levels. 5.1 EAS equipment should be uniformly implemented to make use of the latest EAS codes approved by the FCC. 5.2 Written state and local EAS plans should be brought up to date with close participation by broadcasters and cable operators. 13 14 5.3 Wired and wireless paths to EAS entry points from warning sources designated in state and local EAS plans should be in good working order. 5.3.1 State and Local EAS plans should consider the use of the FM radio sub- carriers as a means of providing additional entry points on a cost effective basis. 5.4 The Primary Entry Point system that gives the President the ability to address the nation through EAS should be in good working order and be regularly reviewed and improved if necessary in terms of reliability, reach and robustness. 5.5 Ongoing development of Presidential emergency communication systems and procedures should be coordinated with the ongoing development of new and legacy state emergency communication systems and procedures, including EAS. 6. Research into development of alternative, redundant and/ or supplemental means of communicating emergency information to the public should be accelerated. 6.1 An expanded government partnership with the media, consumer electronics and computer industries should harness free market innovation, foster competition, and enhance interoperability to meet changing national warning needs. 6.1.1 The partnership should explore the use of emerging new technologies to improve and/ or complement existing infrastructures and to leverage emerging new infrastructures. 7. Local jurisdiction/ market cooperatives should be encouraged to share their locally developed best practices for coordinating their efforts, delivering risk communications and warnings to their diverse public constituencies, and joint continuity planning to maintain communications under crisis conditions. 14