{"id":6839,"date":"2017-11-18T00:30:06","date_gmt":"2017-11-18T08:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=6839"},"modified":"2017-11-18T00:30:06","modified_gmt":"2017-11-18T08:30:06","slug":"say-goodbye-local-media-trump-fcc-opens-corporate-merger-floodgates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/11\/18\/say-goodbye-local-media-trump-fcc-opens-corporate-merger-floodgates\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Say Goodbye to Local Media,’ as Trump FCC Opens Corporate Merger Floodgates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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November 16, 2017\u00a0<\/span><\/span>by Common Dreams<\/a><\/div>\n
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“Today will go down in history as the day when the FCC abdicated its responsibility to uphold the\u00a0core values of localism, competition, and diversity in broadcasting.”<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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by\u00a0Jessica Corbett, staff writer<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has been widely criticized for moving forward with rollbacks of regulations aimed at protecting local media. (Photo:\u00a0FCC<\/a>\/Flickr)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In “an awful new low<\/a>” that elicited warnings about “a new wave of media consolidation<\/a>,” the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday rolled back media ownership regulations under the guise of\u00a0trying<\/a>\u00a0“to modernize its broadcast ownership rules & to help promote ownership diversity.”<\/p>\n

“Any pretense that this vote will help journalism or increase ownership diversity is cynical and offensive,”\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Free Press president and CEO Craig Aaron, warning that the move will “lead to more mergers, more layoffs, and more communities that have no news outlets in place to cover important stories and hold officials accountable.”<\/p>\n

In response to Thursday’s move by the FCC, Aaron’s group vowed to fight the decision and initiated a campaign to file suit.<\/p>\n

“The FCC just wiped away time-tested and common sense safeguards that promote vibrant local media by ensuring voters have access to competing sources of news,”\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner and current special adviser for Common Cause. “There is no credible rationale for this odious decision which runs flagrantly afoul of the public interest.”<\/p>\n

The approved\u00a0order<\/a>\u00a0(pdf):<\/p>\n