Today on The BradCast: Yet another reminder of the continuing importance of independent media over our public airwaves, as yet another massive — and arguably unlawful — media mega-merger narrows corporate control of local television stations and the public airwaves to fewer and fewer chieftains. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]
Before we get to our guest today, and then a few calls from listeners, a few headlines from over the weekend and into today…
- “Good. I’m glad he’s dead,” is a phrase that will be on the lips of tens, if not hundreds of millions of Americans at some point in the not too distant future. This past week, however, only our demented President was using it to describe the passing of 81-year old Robert Mueller, a war hero, patriot, and decades-long public servant to Republicans and Democrats alike. The former Republican FBI Director also came out of retirement to lead the independent Special Counsel investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump — who is not yet dead.
- The second part of the depraved, degenerate Trump’s obnoxious social media attack on the late FBI Director read: “He can no longer hurt innocent people!” Trump would then go on to threaten the lives of 92 million Iranians with the war crime of “obliterat[ing]” the country’s power plants (and desalination plants, their drinking water supply, along with them) “within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time” if Iran refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But, Trump chickened out, as he does, before the deadline arrived, claimed that talks with Iran were going well, and extended the threat for five more days. The stock market recovered a bit of what it lost last week and oil prices slightly fell, even as Iran claimed there were no talks underway with the U.S., directly or through intermediaries. TACO.
Then, we’re joined by JOHN BERGMAYER, Legal Director at the D.C.-based nonprofit watchdog Public Knowledge regarding his groups lawsuit, filed today, in response to what the group describes as the unlawful merger between two huge local television station owners, Nexstar and Tegna. He announced on today’s program that the organization has now filed a suit to block it.
The merger was approved late last week by Trump’s corrupt FCC Chair Brendan Carr, after Nexstar showed it’s loyalty to the Administration last year by keeping Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the airwaves even longer than ABC did, after the late-night host made a joke the Administration didn’t like.
“A lot of these broadcast stations used to be local, semi-mom-and-pop-esque businesses, and they’ve been swooped up into these giant nationwide chains,” Bergmayer explains. After consolidation, their newsrooms are gutted and replaced by more and more prepackaged content, often with a political bent toward the Right, and stripped of the local news coverage that so many Americans, for so many decades, had come to know and trust.
The merger violates long-standing federal statutes and FCC rules that prevent any one company from reaching more than 39% of American households. But Trump’s corrupt FCC chair, at Trump’s instructions, has waived the rules and is violating the laws, according to Bergmayer, by allowing the new mega-company to acquire local stations that reach a gob-smacking 80% of American homes.
“There are several lawsuits already filed in this deal. State attorneys general are suing on pure anti-trust grounds [against] a merger that violates anti-trust laws. Others include a coalition of broadband companies. And I can announce Public Knowledge is also suing in a different court. We are bringing up more of the communications law arguments.”
The whole point of these laws adopted by Congress and signed by Presidents “was all about promoting media diversity,” Bergmayer tells me. “A healthy democracy really depends on that.” Now, he says, the laws and rules have been hollowed out. He concedes the FCC “does have the authority to waive” certain rules. But not on the limits to station ownership. “The 39% number was negotiated in Congress… and it was taken out of the realm of policies that the FCC has the authority to waive or to modify,” he explains.
“It’s a nationwide cap, and it’s about controlling access to 39% of viewers, essentially,” he says, noting if the FCC’s ruling holds, it would be “a serious change to the structure of the market.” And all done, he notes, at the direction of Donald Trump who personally called publicly for the FCC to do his bidding, even though the Commission is supposed to be an independent agency, separated by Congressional statute from control by the President.
Much more on all of this on today’s show, and how media outlets in just about every town in America will now be affected by it, as Nexstar accelerates their gutting of the previously most trusted newsrooms in America.
Finally, a bit more on Trump’s questionable claims about negotiations with Iran, reaction to his comments about Mueller’s passing, some good news from the lower courts finding the Pentagon’s new rules for media coverage to be patently unconstitutional, and callers ring on the upcoming No Kings rallies this coming Saturday in thousands of American cities, and more…
The military version: “Pentagon will remove media offices after judge reinstates New York Times press credentials” (Link)
I’m surprised Trump didn’t attack Rev. Jesse Jackson upon his death. I know he destroyed Rob Reiner when he was stabbed to death. It’s par for the course for him.