| Friend,
This morning, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made a shocking announcement: He’s pressing pause on the Sinclair mega-merger1 — and potentially questioning other broadcasters similar sham deals.2
Free Press hasn’t seen eye to eye with Chairman Pai since he took over the FCC. But today’s announcement is unequivocally the right thing to do under the law. This is a huge setback for Sinclair’s mega-merger plans and a giant win for the public.
Just last week, we teamed up with allies to deliver nearly 700,000 petition signatures from activists like you, calling on Pai and his FCC colleagues to stop Sinclair.
Today, we believe your voices were heard.
We believe that Ajit Pai and others at the FCC are feeling the heat of public pressure, and finally realizing that they’re on the wrong side of history.
It’s wrong to bend the law to force through a deal. It’s wrong to let Sinclair serve as an unchecked propaganda machine for the Trump administration. And it’s wrong to concentrate the power of media in the hands of a few rich and unscrupulous individuals.
Today’s announcement signals that Ajit Pai could bring all proposed mergers involving broadcaster shell companies into question — a remarkable shift from his previous statements regarding regulatory action, and a great step forward for decentralizing our media system.
But it’s not over. We must remain vigilant. We must continue to monitor Sinclair, as the company’s proven it’s willing to do just about anything to force its racist and Islamophobic propaganda on journalists and residents in our communities.
And we must continue to call on the FCC to investigate all mega-mergers as a violation of law and a real threat to our democracy — which is under attack now more than ever.
Thank you for resisting. Thank you for fighting to save our media. Today, your voice was heard. So let’s get even louder.
Thanks for all that you do—
Collette, Dutch, Nilda, Candace, Matt and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net
P.S. Today’s announcement from Ajit Pai was a huge step in the right direction. Keep it going: Donate $5 or whatever you can to help Free Press Action Fund continue to rally, petition and pressure the FCC to protect communities, not corporations.
1. “Sinclair Merger in Huge Trouble as FCC Chairman Pai Casts Skeptical Eye on Sham Deals,” Free Press, July 16, 2018: https://act.freepress.net/go/24335?t=6&akid=9797%2E10296224%2Elc3Puq 2. “FCC Raises Concerns About Sinclair-Tribune Deal, Shares Fall,” Reuters, July 16, 2018: https://act.freepress.net/go/24336?t=8&akid=9797%2E10296224%2Elc3Puq  |
