Court Says FCC Ignored Hard Data In Rush To Help Media Companies (vice.com) 35
The FCC's multi-year effort to kill media consolidation rules at the behest of giants like Sinclair Broadcasting has been rejected by the courts, who ruled the agency failed to seriously consider the negative impact unchecked media monopolies have on the public at large. Motherboard reports: In a 2-1 new ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit forced the FCC to go back to the drawing board in its quest to make life easier for media giants, arguing the agency "did not adequately consider the effect its sweeping rule changes will have on ownership of broadcast media by women and racial minorities."
In 2017, Pai's FCC voted to eliminate a cap preventing any one broadcaster from reaching more than 39 percent of the nation, a 77-year-old rule requiring broadcasters keep a local studio in the towns they service (to encourage community participation), as well as rules preventing broadcasters from owning more than two TV stations and one radio station in the same market. These changes were intended to help companies like Sinclair Broadcasting, whose proposed $3.7 billion merger with Tribune Media would have given the company ownership of more than 230 broadcast stations, reaching 72 percent of the American public. That deal was scuttled last year after Sinclair was accused of misleading the FCC to gain regulatory approval. The court said that FCC analysis justifying its decision was "so insubstantial that it would receive a failing grade in any introductory statistics class."
In 2017, Pai's FCC voted to eliminate a cap preventing any one broadcaster from reaching more than 39 percent of the nation, a 77-year-old rule requiring broadcasters keep a local studio in the towns they service (to encourage community participation), as well as rules preventing broadcasters from owning more than two TV stations and one radio station in the same market. These changes were intended to help companies like Sinclair Broadcasting, whose proposed $3.7 billion merger with Tribune Media would have given the company ownership of more than 230 broadcast stations, reaching 72 percent of the American public. That deal was scuttled last year after Sinclair was accused of misleading the FCC to gain regulatory approval. The court said that FCC analysis justifying its decision was "so insubstantial that it would receive a failing grade in any introductory statistics class."
Unfortunately, (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Unfortunately, (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, the Fox tabloid does have a well known tendency to ignore the truth and spout off with nonsense to keep their viewers entertained. Not to mention the ballistic deflections any time the crimes of the con artist are brought up by real news companies.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
It's such bullshit! I can't believe how everybody who disagrees with me is by coincidence stupid and evil. Luckily for me, I'm extremely righteous and intelligent. All those people who aren't me are so evil, they should be purged.
The fact that your comment is modded -1 (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
The liberal media is an absurd conservacuck myth.
The majority of news outlets are controlled by either conservatives or centrists. Only a tiny percentage of the news is legitimately liberal, like truthout, common dreams, etc.
Sure, there's MSNBC. And? Because all the others serve more as government mouthpieces and corporate whores than anything else. And even they mostly do the bidding of corporate masters, who are not liberals.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Awwwwwwww, poor baby! Did the name calling damage your delicate snowflake feelings? Whining about the name calling is just a way for you to ignore the content.
Re: (Score:2)
did you actually type this out unironically?
The specific wording was chosen for irony's sake, if that's what you meant.
I wouldn’t cite Hanlon’s Razor in this (Score:5, Insightful)
To introduce a recent favorite of mine... (Score:1)
Porque no los dos?
I'm not even going to attempt Spanish punctuation given that Slashdot still doesn't properly handle multibyte characters (or whatever the ongoing malfunction is)
My grammar is bad enough.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
'' malice instead of stupidity.''
Malice motivated by pandering. There's absolutely no other reason for their actions. The FCC used to protect bandwidth and spectrum so it was utilized in a manner that was best for the public. Now all they do is legislate ways to screw the public and protect those that fill the coffer.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Broadcast TV (Score:2)
Can you believe it still exists?
Re: Broadcast TV (Score:2)
It's huge (Score:2)
Surveys show, as a market segment, Broadcast News is cited more often as a news source than Cable News, Local Papers, National Papers, or Radio. It's the most important segment, and fuck Sinclair.
Closing the barn door after the cows left? (Score:3)
This is why I've started getting my news from YouTube, Reddit and Fark. As ridiculous as it sounds they're the most impartial sources I can find.
Re: (Score:2)
''This is why I've started getting my news from YouTube, Reddit and Fark.''
Well you're missing the real news. Everyone knows..
America's Finest News Source. https://www.theonion.com/ [theonion.com]
Not even (Score:2)
And HBO? (Score:1)
This is why I've started getting my news from YouTube, Reddit and Fark. As ridiculous as it sounds they're the most impartial sources I can find.
...yet you post links to HBO and PBS?
Nope. (Score:2)
Sinclair ended up not buying them. You might want to look instead at Nexstar. They own the most stations in the USA.
Interesting (Score:2)
Ajit pay-to-play Pai (Score:2)