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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.

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