December 4, 1997

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOSE LUIS RUIZ AS MEMBER OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATIONS OF DIGITAL TELEVISION BROADCASTERS

Message Creation Date was at  4-DEC-1997 12:15:00
      
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release       December 4, 1997

 PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOSE LUIS RUIZ AS MEMBER OF THE 
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATIONS OF DIGITAL TELEVISION 
BROADCASTERS

 The President today announced his intent to appoint Jose Luis Ruiz as a Member 
of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television 
Broadcasters.

 Mr. Jose Luis Ruiz, of Los Angeles, California, is the Executive Director of 
the National Latino Communications Center (NLCC), a non-profit media arts 
resource center that serves as an institutional force for developing and 
presenting high quality films and television programs about the Latino 
experience.  He has been a producer and director in the film and television 
industry since 1970.  Mr. Ruiz's television programs have garnered 11 Emmy 
nominations and 4 Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and 
Sciences.  In 1997, he received the Nosotros Golden Eagle Award for Outstanding 
Documentary, Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement. 
Mr. Ruiz is President of the Mexican-American Solidarity Foundation Alumni and 
is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of 
Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC).  Mr. Ruiz attended East Los Angeles College 
and the University of California at Los Angeles, where he majored in film 
studies.

 President Clinton created the Advisory Committee on Public Interest 
Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters by Executive Order to study and 
make recommendations on the public interest responsibilities accompanying 
broadcasters' receipt of digital television licenses.  The Telecommunications 
Act of 1996 authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue 
licenses for digital television services under the conditions that the 
broadcasters remain subject to public interest obligations as deemed 
appropriate by the FCC, and the return of the analog spectrum used for 
broadcasting television signals.  The Committee is expected to submit a report 
to the Vice President regarding their findings on or before June 1998.