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Trumps FCC Has Paved the Way For a Giant, Local Fox News
Fox News may have hit a rough patch, with both its CEO and top pundit felled by a storm of sexual harassment allegations within one short year. But another conservative media corporation — one with a name far less known, but that might soon be just as powerful — is poised to expand its reach into millions more American homes.
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced a deal this week to buy Tribune Media, the venerable newspaper-and-broadcasting company hit hard by the rise of the internet and the implosion of traditional journalistic media. Tribune Media spun off its newspapers — including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune — into a separate media company with the unfortunate name “tronc.” But Tribune still owns 42 television stations, some in the nation’s largest markets — cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. By buying Tribune, Sinclair will own more than 200 stations, and will be able to broadcast its conservative-leaning news to some 70 percent of the country.
While Sinclair’s television stations each produce their own local newscasts, they mix this coverage with reports and commentary produced by the company’s Washington bureau. For the last eight years, these had a distinctly anti-Obama bent — and are now markedly pro-Trump. For awhile, Fox was considering buying Tribune. The Sinclair acquisition is a different beast, but one that many worry could create an enormous new conservative network with local affiliates nationwide. The New York Times reports:
Some analysts and executives have speculated about whether Sinclair would repurpose the network to become a rival to Fox News, or possibly become a landing spot for conservative commentators like Bill O’Reilly. When Fox News ousted Mr. O’Reilly amid allegations of sexual harassment, he did not have a noncompete clause in his separation agreement.
Sinclair Broadcast Group announced a deal this week to buy Tribune Media, the venerable newspaper-and-broadcasting company hit hard by the rise of the internet and the implosion of traditional journalistic media. Tribune Media spun off its newspapers — including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune — into a separate media company with the unfortunate name “tronc.” But Tribune still owns 42 television stations, some in the nation’s largest markets — cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. By buying Tribune, Sinclair will own more than 200 stations, and will be able to broadcast its conservative-leaning news to some 70 percent of the country.
While Sinclair’s television stations each produce their own local newscasts, they mix this coverage with reports and commentary produced by the company’s Washington bureau. For the last eight years, these had a distinctly anti-Obama bent — and are now markedly pro-Trump. For awhile, Fox was considering buying Tribune. The Sinclair acquisition is a different beast, but one that many worry could create an enormous new conservative network with local affiliates nationwide. The New York Times reports:
Some analysts and executives have speculated about whether Sinclair would repurpose the network to become a rival to Fox News, or possibly become a landing spot for conservative commentators like Bill O’Reilly. When Fox News ousted Mr. O’Reilly amid allegations of sexual harassment, he did not have a noncompete clause in his separation agreement.
http://billmoyers.com/story/trump-fcc-paved-way-giant-local-fox-news/