7 ms·

It seems like the issue is a lack of competition, if I don't like what Sinclair is saying I can not watch it, but if they own all the stations then I don't have

It seems like the issue is a lack of competition, if I don't like what Sinclair is saying I can not watch it, but if they own all the stations then I don't have that choice. The FCC did all this while everyone was distracted with net neutrality, so even if it came up again there the FCC knows how to distract people already. I'm just not sure what I as a viewer/voter can do about except wait for the next election, and even then, there's no guarantee that the candidate who wins is going to do anything about it. But... looking at the list of stations Sinclair owns[0]... where are the markets that they control all the stations, defined as ABC+NBC+FOX+CBS? I honestly don't see any. Is this more of a concern if they do manage to get all of these, or if the merger with Tribune Media goes through? 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stations_owned_or_operated_by_Sinclair_Broadcast_Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stations_owned_or_oper...

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
creaghpatr 9y ago
>or if the merger with Tribune Media goes through? That's the whole reason this is a story. The viral clip was assembled by far-left think tank ThinkProgress to attempt to torpedo the merger by stirring up public outcry. And of course, the mainstream media, who indirectly compete against these local stations, is happy to support these efforts.
- trose 9y ago
  are we getting russian trolls in HN as well? I thought we were here to have intelligent discussions. Not political nonsense about "mainstream media"
  - creaghpatr 9y ago
    You are trying to dismiss my point of view by accusing me of being a Russian troll?
  - dang 9y ago
    It isn't ok to insinuate astroturfing, shillage, etc., in HN arguments. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Please don't do it here, regardless of how much people are doing it everywhere else. If you have evidence of abuse, or are worried that it might be happening, you can email us at hn@ycombinator.com and we'll take a look. Obviously, if we find abuse we'll deal with it. But not without looking at the data. What's not ok is to cheaply invoke these categories because someone holds different views from you or posted a bad comment to HN. I've posted about this a ton if anyone wants to read more: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix=false&page=0&query=by:dang%20astroturfing https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme....
- soundwave106 9y ago
  Er, "mainstream media" includes local news organizations... When I grew up, local news was (surprise!) somewhat independent. Each television show had their own particular style of reporting or emphasis on what they tended to cover. I never considered local TV news to be terribly great in quality compared to the newspapers, but at least it wasn't monotone in nature. So, there's nothing really wrong with the spiel per se (everyone has bias and opinions). Except that it was pushed to 100s of television stations via local news channel, to be read exactly out loud as written. That's a pretty strong argument to torpedo the merger. Forget the political angle... apparently on Sinclair stations, there's a push to make local news and national news no different. This is what really is terrible. Approve the merger and you probably will get the same effect of the massive consolidation of US radio in the 1990s after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the mergers pretty much killed off programming that focused on local and regional tastes or music, killed off the already dying freeform DJ outside of community radio, which stagnated music variety considerably (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/perfect/radio.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/perfect...)...) In the end, what Sinclair is doing is probably going to is not good for their long term business anyways. This mass-scripted thing has drawn quite a bit of negative publicity, for a start. And using the 1990s radio example, well, terrestrial radio is quickly dying due to irrelevance. The "800 lb gorilla" winner of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Clear Channel (iHeartMedia), recently went bankrupt after all.
  - creaghpatr 9y ago
    I don’t disagree. I only watch local stations for weather and traffic unless a major event takes place in my city. I felt firsthand the crushing effect of clear channel on radio in my market and do not want that to happen to television. Edit: I’m still kind of confused why local stations cover national stories unless they concern a local event or story (or just do a super generic AP-style readout if there’s a major US story). But most of my local stations have national affiliates that already cover national stories (ABC NBC CBS)
  - selestify 9y ago
    Why was iHeartMedia the winner of the 1996 act?
- philipodonnell 9y ago
  I mean, if that's the case then they're not wrong. No single company should own all local media, ever.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

creaghpatr 9y ago

>or if the merger with Tribune Media goes through? That's the whole reason this is a story. The viral clip was assembled by far-left think tank ThinkProgress to attempt to torpedo the merger by stirring up public outcry. And of course, the mainstream media, who indirectly compete against these local stations, is happy to support these efforts.

trose 9y ago
are we getting russian trolls in HN as well? I thought we were here to have intelligent discussions. Not political nonsense about "mainstream media"
- creaghpatr 9y ago
  You are trying to dismiss my point of view by accusing me of being a Russian troll?
- dang 9y ago
  It isn't ok to insinuate astroturfing, shillage, etc., in HN arguments. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Please don't do it here, regardless of how much people are doing it everywhere else. If you have evidence of abuse, or are worried that it might be happening, you can email us at hn@ycombinator.com and we'll take a look. Obviously, if we find abuse we'll deal with it. But not without looking at the data. What's not ok is to cheaply invoke these categories because someone holds different views from you or posted a bad comment to HN. I've posted about this a ton if anyone wants to read more: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix=false&page=0&query=by:dang%20astroturfing https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme....
soundwave106 9y ago
Er, "mainstream media" includes local news organizations... When I grew up, local news was (surprise!) somewhat independent. Each television show had their own particular style of reporting or emphasis on what they tended to cover. I never considered local TV news to be terribly great in quality compared to the newspapers, but at least it wasn't monotone in nature. So, there's nothing really wrong with the spiel per se (everyone has bias and opinions). Except that it was pushed to 100s of television stations via local news channel, to be read exactly out loud as written. That's a pretty strong argument to torpedo the merger. Forget the political angle... apparently on Sinclair stations, there's a push to make local news and national news no different. This is what really is terrible. Approve the merger and you probably will get the same effect of the massive consolidation of US radio in the 1990s after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the mergers pretty much killed off programming that focused on local and regional tastes or music, killed off the already dying freeform DJ outside of community radio, which stagnated music variety considerably (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/perfect/radio.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/perfect...)...) In the end, what Sinclair is doing is probably going to is not good for their long term business anyways. This mass-scripted thing has drawn quite a bit of negative publicity, for a start. And using the 1990s radio example, well, terrestrial radio is quickly dying due to irrelevance. The "800 lb gorilla" winner of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Clear Channel (iHeartMedia), recently went bankrupt after all.
- creaghpatr 9y ago
  I don’t disagree. I only watch local stations for weather and traffic unless a major event takes place in my city. I felt firsthand the crushing effect of clear channel on radio in my market and do not want that to happen to television. Edit: I’m still kind of confused why local stations cover national stories unless they concern a local event or story (or just do a super generic AP-style readout if there’s a major US story). But most of my local stations have national affiliates that already cover national stories (ABC NBC CBS)
- selestify 9y ago
  Why was iHeartMedia the winner of the 1996 act?
philipodonnell 9y ago
I mean, if that's the case then they're not wrong. No single company should own all local media, ever.