Nancy Pelosi Tells FCC She Has Concerns Over Local News Impact With Sale Of Tegna To Standard General
06.10.2022 - 22:13
/ deadline.com
Standard General’s proposed acquisition of Tegna is facing new scrutiny from Capitol Hill, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Commerce Committee Frank Pallone fired off a letter to the FCC expressing their concerns about the transaction.
Standard General, however, said that the lawmakers were being misled by opponents of the transaction, who include public interest groups and the NewsGuild CWA, and that Pelosi and Pallone’s letter was applying “improper pressure” to the FCC.
Under the terms of the transaction, an affiliate of Standard General would purchase Tegna, which has 64 stations in 51 markets. Apollo Global Management, owner of Cox Media Group, is involved in financing the deal. Following the close of the transaction, Cox will acquire Tegna stations in Austin (KVUE), Dallas (WFAA and KMPX) and Houston (KHOU and KTBU) from Standard General.
In the letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Pelosi and Pallone focus in part on the impact the transaction would have on local news, as lawmakers of both parties have in recent years decried the decline of media outlets in their districts as advertising dollars migrate to tech platforms.
“After reviewing the public record, we are concerned that this transaction would violate the FCC’s mandate by restricting access to local news coverage, cutting jobs at local television stations, and raising prices on consumers,” Pelosi and Pallone wrote.
“The proposed new owners previously told investors they believe Tegna’s local stations have too many employees, a potential signal of their intent to lay off local journalists,” they wrote. “At the same time, they have described piping in news produced in Washington, D.C., to fill time on local newscasts as a public interest