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Free Press’ Tim Karr discusses how FCC Chairman Ajit Pai changed the ownership rules to allow the right-wing Sinclair Broadcast Group create a monopoly.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Trump administration’s FCC chief see eye to eye on the need to unleash television. Both are reaping big rewards.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group‘s bid to take over Tribune Media would create a behemoth controlling TV stations reaching 72 percent of the country’s households. This might be the preeminent reason to oppose the deal, but it isn’t the only one. We’ll talk through the problems with Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group’s proposed acquisition of Tribune Media has ignited expected opposition from left-leaning advocacy groups that deplore news-media consolidation.
But a more unlikely group has recently joined the chorus of critics.

Free Press noted that Sinclair’s practice of forcing stations to promote an extreme conservative perspective and distort local news actively threatens the well-being of marginalized communities across the nation, specifically communities of color and immigrants.

WASHINGTON — On Monday, Free Press filed a formal challenge at the FCC to the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media. The petition to deny seeks to halt the transfer of broadcast licenses that would give Sinclair control of more than 233 local TV stations reaching 72 percent of the country’s population.

News Voices: North Carolina aims to connect local news staffs with residents with untold stories.

The threat to Net Neutrality is more urgent than ever.

The Trump FCC is simply doing the bidding of Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Charter in its quest to abandon rules against blocking, slowing or speeding internet traffic, Wheeler says.

“It’s unheard of to have one company pushing one specific agenda reaching so many people and doing it in a way designed to evade local input,” says Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press, a Washington-based group that opposes media consolidation.