Media Consolidation

Media and Money

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Article in FAIR by Janine Jackson, 3/24/26

Headline:  ” ‘A Media System Built on Profit Is Incredibly Fragile’:”

Subhead:  “CounterSpin interview with Jim Naureckas on MAGA vs. the First Amendment”

“. . . All of the conflicts we were told we were either making up or exaggerating are out in broad daylight. The president is overtly handing control of the country’s media outlets to a tiny group of MAGA billionaires. The Trump-appointed head of the public interest–defending regulator is stating that any outlets that don’t toe the Trump line, wherever that is today, could lose their broadcasting license for that reason. . .”

“There is lots of informed, impassioned debate going on right now about the various nightmares unfolding in and from the US. What does it mean that that’s happening largely outside the still-influential news media outlets that have long shaped public understanding?. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://fair.org/home/a-media-system-built-on-profit-is-incredibly-fragile/

Whirlwind for TV News

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Kyle Paoletta, 3/20/26

Headline: :  “Brendan Carr’s Deregulation Blitz Is a Disaster for TV News”

Subhead:  “The FCC chairman is clearing the way for Trump and corporate broadcasters to control the airwaves.”

“. . .Appearing on a conservative podcast, Carr had delivered an open warning to the television stations that aired Kimmel, saying, “These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

“Carr’s threat had teeth. Under his leadership, the FCC is in the midst of a historic deregulation spree he’s calling ‘Delete, Delete, Delete.’ The campaign is currently reviewing the agency’s ‘multiple ownership’ rules, which prohibit any one company from exerting outsize control over the local television market. A loosening of those rules could prove immensely profitable for the owners of local ABC affiliates, including Nexstar and Sinclair, so those companies seem to have viewed Carr’s desire to punish Kimmel as an opportunity to curry favor with the administration. . .

Read the full article at:

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/brendan-carr-fcc-deregulation-blitz-is-a-disaster-for-tv-news.php

Stopping Media Merger?

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Free Press Press Release by Staff, 3/23/26

Headline:  “Unlawful Approval of Largest Broadcast Merger in History”

Subhead:  “Notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit comes as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr continues his campaign to censor and control a free and independent press in the United States”

“WASHINGTON – On Monday, Free Press, the Communications Workers of America, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, Inc. and Public Knowledge filed an appeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s rushed approval of the largest broadcast television merger in U.S. history.

“The challenge, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asks the court to stop the merger of Nexstar and Tegna before it proceeds and the companies combine all operations, and asks the court to set aside the FCC’s approval of the deal. The groups assert that the merger is unlawful — in contradiction of laws established by Congress and of FCC procedures, too. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/public-interest-coalition-sues-fcc-unlawful-approval-largest-broadcast-merger-history

Media Uber Alles

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Article in The Nation by Steve Scherer, 3/20/26

Headline:  “Correspondent to Uber Driver”

Subhead:  “I once documented human displacement and desperation. Now, due to a crumbling media ecosystem, I am living it.”

“. . .After serving as Reuters’s Ottawa bureau chief for five years, my job was eliminated in a cost-cutting drive. . .”

“As a correspondent who covered politics on two continents, I have seen politicians in other countries use immigrants as scapegoats. It’s always a deadly approach, especially for the immigrants. But Trump needs scapegoats to distract from the gaping wound that is the relentless shrinking of America’s once-great middle class. That social grouping once included me. But not anymore. . . .”

“South of the border, in the United States, more than 10,000 journalists lost their jobs between 2022 and 2024, according to Nieman Reports. . .”

“When I lost my job, I told myself, ‘If all else fails, I’ll drive for Uber.’ Well, here I am, and it’s not as comforting as I thought it would be. I used to think I was different from the migrants I wrote about—protected by a passport, a salary, a press badge. But the past two years have stripped away that illusion. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/from-foreign-correspondent-to-uber-driver/

Icon of Radio – Gone.

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Article in AP by David Bauder, 3/20/26

Headline:  “CBS News shutters its storied radio news service after nearly a century, ending an era”

“NEW YORK (AP) — CBS News said Friday it will shut down its storied radio news service after nearly 100 years of operation, ending an era and blaming challenging economic times as the world moves on to digital sources and podcasts. Said longtime CBS News anchor Dan Rather: ‘It’s another piece of America that is gone.’. . .”

“Today, CBS News Radio provides material to an estimated 700 stations across the country and is known best for its top-of-the-hour news roundups. The service will end on May 22, the network said Friday. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://apnews.com/article/cbs-radio-news-bari-weiss-11372c28f9557d0b10e329e6c4be339f

Judge Bari Show?

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Article in Status by Oliver Darcy, 3/19/26

Headline:  “CBS’ Judgment Day”

Subhead:  “Staffers at CBS News tell Status they are “on edge like crazy” as the newsroom readies itself for mass layoffs overseen by Bari Weiss that will reshape the storied outlet around her vision for it”

“Over on 57th Street, at the CBS Broadcast Center on the West Side of Manhattan, anxiety and fear in the air are palpable. Over the last 24 hours, word has spread amongst staffers that the axe is set to fall imminently, with a second round of mass layoffs poised to hit the David Ellison-owned newsroom just months after the last round. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.status.news/p/cbs-news-layoffs-bari-weiss-ce41

Control of the Screens

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Article in Washington Post by Scott Nover, 3/19/26

Headline:  “U.S. approves $6.2 billion merger set to reshape local TV”

Subhead:  “The Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission gave a thumbs-up to the Nexstar-Tegna merger.”

“Nexstar, the largest owner of TV stations in the United States, won regulatory approval to buy rival Tegna on Thursday, in a $6.2 billion deal that promises to reshape the landscape for local television and news coverage.”

“. . .FCC Chairman Brendan Carr allowed the deal to proceed by waiving a cap that has historically barred station owners from expanding to reach more than 39 percent of American households. Nexstar previously said the deal would give it 265 stations across the country, reaching 80 percent of households. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/19/nexstar-tegna-tv-merger-approved/0

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Article in Daily Kos by Oliver Willis, 3/19/26

Headline:  “8 states are suing to stop another MAGA media monopoly”

“A coalition of eight states, led by their Democratic attorneys general, is suing to stop Nexstar Media Group from acquiring Tegna.

“Nexstar owns more than 200 TV stations while Tegna owns 64, so a merging of the companies would reach more than 54% of households, exceeding current Federal Communications Commission limits on station ownership. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/19/2373898/-8-states-are-suing-to-stop-another-MAGA-media-monopoly?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_7&pm_medium=web

Notice on Washington Post

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Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 3/17/26

Headline:  “US media mogul sees a big opportunity in the cuts at the Washington Post“

Subhead:  “Robert Allbritton’s Notus plans to double its newsroom staff, which includes hiring prominent ex-Post journalists”

“Robert Allbritton, the billionaire media entrepreneur, said he was “pained” by the Washington Post’s decision to lay off a large chunk of its newsroom in early February. But he also saw it as an opportunity to hire some of the Post’s most well-known journalists, including many who would have been hard to poach in previous years. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/17/notus-hire-washington-post-staff-robert-allbritton

On Media Under. . .?

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Article in Washington Post by Scott Nover, 3/17/26

Headline:  “The Ellisons are building a media empire. Trump keeps cheering them on.”

Subhead:  “The president and defense secretary have each heaped praise on Larry and David Ellison as the Justice Department reviews Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros. deal.”

“President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly celebrated the wealthy Ellison family’s growing media empire in recent days, even as the Trump administration is reviewing Paramount Skydance’s deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery and its assets including CNN for $110 billion.. .”

“Trump’s fresh praise for the Ellisons comes as the president has spent weeks insulting the press over their coverage of the Iran war. On Sunday, Trump alleged without evidence in a Truth Social post that news organizations were running AI-generated Iranian propaganda and should be charged with “TREASON for the dissemination of false information. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/17/trump-hegseth-praise-ellisons-approval/

Circling Paramount Oscars

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Article in Free Press by Staff, 3/13/26

Headline:  “Free Press Circles the Oscars With a Mobile Billboard Protesting Paramount’s Terrible Takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery”

Subhead:  “Protest sign mockingly urges the Academy to consider David Ellison for ‘Best Performance in a Puppet Show’ — with President Trump holding the strings”

“. . . a mobile billboard parodying Paramount Skydance owner David Ellison will be circling the Dolby Theater, site of Sunday’s Academy Awards. The billboard is a roving protest of Ellison’s plans to take over Warner Bros. Discovery and transform the resulting media colossus into a mouthpiece for Donald Trump’s authoritarian agenda.

“The billboard urges members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to consider Ellison’s performance for the imaginary “Best Performance in a Puppet Show” category.. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.freepress.net/news/free-press-circles-oscars-mobile-billboard-protesting-paramounts-terrible-takeover-warner-bros