I oppose the acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcasting. Congress knew what it was doing when it established a national limit of 39% for a single company to dominate the viewing options of local television audiences. This was intended to prevent an effective monopoly of content in areas where only one station is present.
Using an outdated regulatory loophole to enable Sinclair to reach over 70% of the American local television audience is an unethical and transparent recipe for exactly what Congress sought to prevent.
Sinclair’s cost cutting practices have resulted in poorer service to the communities in which it operates. It’s latest move to outsource local news production to areas far distant from its local audiences will only make this worse.
Finally, Sinclair’s “must carry” content not only compromises the editorial independence of its local news programming, but has been repeatedly cited by responsible journalists as classic authoritarian propaganda, completely incompatible with the values of a free society.