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- cross-posted to:
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The purchase of The Baltimore Sun is further proof that conservative billionaires understand the power of media control. Why don’t their liberal counterparts get it?
You have no doubt seen the incredibly depressing news about the incredibly depressing purchase of The Baltimore Sun by the incredibly depressing David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, the right-wing media empire best known for gobbling up local television news operations and forcing local anchors to spout toxic Big Brother gibberish like this.
The Sun was once a great newspaper. I remember reading, once upon a time, that it had sprung more foreign correspondents into action across the planet than any American newspaper save The New York Times and The Washington Post. It had eight foreign bureaus at one point, all of which were shuttered by the Tribune Company by 2006. But the Sun’s real triumphs came in covering its gritty, organic city. And even well after its glory days, it still won Pulitzers—as recently as 2020, for taking down corrupt Mayor Catherine Pugh, who served a stretch in prison thanks to the paper.
Bring back the Fairness Doctrine. It’s abolishment ruined news and talk radio.
And reinstate the restrictions on media ownership that were dropped with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
This is the reason why Indie music died. This bullshit is why clearchannel was able to buy practically every radio station in the country and turn all music into anodyne garbage pop music.
This is the only correct answer. The fairness doctrine will only do jack and shit. Because who decides what’s fair, and what’s considered as a worthy view.
Eliminating media homogeny is one of the best things we could do. Plenty of outlets with wealthy owners will still get together to push one narrative or another. But if they don’t have tight control of everything. There will be other narratives able to flourish. Did something love I
Demand free speech rights for leftists. That’s literally how the conservative takeover started: demanding free speech rights for conservatives, leading to the Telecommunications Act which empowered this Sinclair slime.
And citizens united, and the Frank Dodd act while you’re at it
Just go all the way back undoing all the bullshit court decisions catalogued here: https://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate-accountability-history-corporations-us/
Glass-Stegall might help.
Please and thank you very much!
Citizens United has a very physical building we can protest outside of
I’m not so sure about that. The Fairness Doctrine required that all sides be presented as having equal weight, which in our time would include Nazism, eugenics and Fascism.
These were also very much present in 1949 when the act was introduced
There are ZERO leftist voices in media. Reinstating the Fairness Act is a step towards changing that.
Demand free speech rights for leftists. That’s literally how the conservative takeover started: demanding free speech rights for conservatives, leading to the Telecommunications Act which empowered this Sinclair slime.
And no it didnt, as it was coupled with FCC regulations that demanded that broadcast media serve the common good.