SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
federal communications commission
Press Freedom Coalition to FCC: Don't Ditch Checks on Corporate Media Consolidation
The 16 groups urge the agency "to uphold its obligation to promote competition, localism, and diversity in the U.S. media."
Aug 05, 2025
A coalition of 16 civil liberties, press freedom, and labor groups this week urged U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to abandon any plans to loosen media ownership restrictions and warned against opening the floodgates to further corporate consolidation.
Public comments on the National Television Multiple Ownership Rule were due to the Federal Communications Commission by Monday—which is when the coalition wrote to the FCC about the 39% national audience reach cap for U.S. broadcast media conglomerates, and how more mergers could negatively impact "the independence of the nation's press and the vitality of its local journalism."
"In our experience, the past 30 years of media consolidation have not fostered a better environment for local news and information. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 radically changed the radio and television broadcasting marketplace, causing rapid consolidation of radio station ownership," the coalition detailed. "Since the 1996 act, lawmakers and regulators have further relaxed television ownership limits, spurring further waves of station consolidation, the full harms of which are being felt by local newsrooms and the communities they serve."
The coalition highlighted how this consolidation has spread "across the entire news media ecosystem, including newspapers, online news outlets, and even online platforms," and led to "newsroom layoffs and closures, and the related spread of 'news deserts' across the country."
"Over a similar period, the economic model for news production has been undercut by technology platforms owned by the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, which have offered an advertising model for better targeting readers, listeners, and viewers, and attracted much of the advertising revenue that once funded local journalism," the coalition noted.
While "lobbyists working for large news media companies argue that further consolidation is the economic answer, giving them the size necessary to compete with Big Tech," the letter argues, "in fact, the opposite appears to be true."
We object."Handing even more control of the public airwaves to a handful of capitulating broadcast conglomerates undermines press freedom." - S. Derek TurnerOur statement: https://www.freepress.net/news/free-press-slams-trump-fccs-broadcast-ownership-proceeding-wildly-dangerous-democracy
[image or embed]
— Free Press (@freepress.bsky.social) August 5, 2025 at 12:58 PM
The letter points out that a recent analysis from Free Press—one of the groups that signed the letter—found a "pervasive pattern of editorial compromise and capitulation" at 35 of the largest media and tech companies in the United States, "as owners of massive media conglomerates seek to curry favor with political leadership."
That analysis—released last week alongside a Media Capitulation Index—makes clear that "the interests of wealthy media owners have become so inextricably entangled with government officials that they've limited their news operations' ability to act as checks against abuses of political power," according to the coalition.
In addition to warning about further consolidation and urging the FCC "to uphold its obligation to promote competition, localism, and diversity in the U.S. media," the coalition argued that the agency actually "lacks the authority to change the national audience reach cap," citing congressional action in 2004.
Along with Free Press co-CEO Craig Aaron, the letter is signed by leaders at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians - Communications Workers of America, National Coalition Against Censorship, Local Independent Online News Publishers, Media Freedom Foundation, NewsGuild-CWA, Open Markets Institute, Park Center for Independent Media, Project Censored, Reporters Without Borders USA, Society of Professional Journalists, Tully Center for Free Speech, Whistleblower and Source Protection Program at ExposeFacts, and Writers Guild of America East and West.
Free Press also filed its own comments. In a related Tuesday statement, senior economic and policy adviser S. Derek Turner, who co-authored the filing, accused FCC Chair Brendan Carr of "placing a for-sale sign on the public airwaves and inviting media companies to monopolize the local news markets as long as they agree to display political fealty to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement."
"The price broadcast companies have to pay for consolidating further is bending the knee, and the line starts outside of the FCC chairman's office," said Turner. "Trump's autocratic demands seemingly have no bounds, and Carr apparently has no qualms about satisfying them. Carr's grossly partisan and deeply hypocritical water-carrying for Trump has already stained the agency, making it clear that this FCC is no longer independent, impartial, or fair."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Trump FCC's Approval of Paramount-Skydance Merger 'Reeks of the Worst Form of Corruption'
"The stench of this transaction will linger over the commission for years," said a pair of Democratic senators.
Jul 25, 2025
The Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave formal approval to the $8 billion merger of CBS owner Paramount and the media firm Skydance, which won over the agency's Trump-appointed chairman with pledges to review CBS' content and appoint an ombudsman to evaluate claims of bias.
The FCC's two Republicans, Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty, supported approval of the merger, a decision that comes weeks after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle President Donald Trump's lawsuit over the organization's handling of a pre-election "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris.
Anna Gomez, the FCC's lone Democratic-appointed commissioner, said Thursday that "after months of cowardly capitulation to this administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted."
"Despite this regrettable outcome, this administration is not done with its assault on the First Amendment," said Gomez, who opposed the merger. "In fact, it may only be beginning. The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage. It is a dark chapter in a long and growing record of abuse that threatens press freedom in this country."
"The partisan vote is a dark day for independent journalism and a stain on the storied history of the Federal Communications Commission."
Democratic lawmakers responded with similar disgust and alarm. In a joint statement, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said the merger approval "reeks of the worst form of corruption."
"While we're glad that the commission took a vote on the deal, as we have repeatedly called for, the partisan vote is a dark day for independent journalism and a stain on the storied history of the Federal Communications Commission," the senators added. "The stench of this transaction will linger over the commission for years."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said that "this merger must be investigated for any criminal behavior."
"It's an open question whether the Trump administration’s approval of this merger was the result of a bribe," said Warren.
BREAKING NEWS: Trump's government just approved Paramount's merger with Skydance.
Sure looks like they paid Donald Trump $36 MILLION for this merger.
Bribery is illegal no matter who is president. pic.twitter.com/DE7LPRjT6X
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 24, 2025
Under the publicly available terms of the Paramount settlement, the company agreed to put $16 million toward Trump's future presidential library. But Trump has claimed that the deal is actually worth more than twice the publicly reported figure, asserting that Skydance agreed to spend $20 million on "advertising, PSAs, or similar programming."
Earlier this week, Warren and two other senators demanded answers from Skydance CEO David Ellison about the purported side deal, which the lawmakers described as a "potential secret Trump payoff."
Conor Gaffney and Janine Lopez, attorneys at the nonprofit group Protect Democracy, wrote Thursday that "no doubt the boards of Paramount and Skydance are hoping this saga ends today—now that they've appeased the FCC and cleared merger review."
"But as we've seen time and again, businesses that capitulate to the Trump administration find themselves captured rather than in the clear—with the president quick to change his mind and come back for more," they wrote. "The costs of capitulation are higher than they might initially seem, and the business calculation that Paramount and many others have made may be wrong. The price of protection only goes up, and the mob keeps coming around."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Stephen Colbert’s Firing: The Critical Unanswered Question
Why now? It was either pandering to Trump, management’s incompetence, or both.
Jul 21, 2025
Timing is everything.
The news that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will end in May 2026 has focused on whether his termination was part of a “deal” (implicit or explicit) to get Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval of the pending merger between CBS’ parent company Paramount and Skydance Media. If so, it was another “bend-the-knee” moment in the media’s ongoing capitulation to U.S. President Donald Trump’s attack on democracy’s foundational institutions.
But the timing of the announcement itself is raises a critical unanswered question: Why now? It was either pandering to Trump, management’s incompetence, or both.
The Cast of Characters
Skydance’s owner David Ellison is the son of Oracle’s billionaire founder Larry Ellison, Trump’s friend and supporter.
Through her family’s holding company National Amusements, Sheri Redstone owns a controlling interest in Paramount and is a member of its board of directors.
If the FCC approves the Skydance-Paramount merger announced in July 2024, Skydance will pay National Amusements $2.4 billion.
Comic Stephen Colbert has become one of Trump’s fiercest TV critics. Beginning in 2016 and continuing for nine consecutive seasons, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has been the highest-rated program in its time slot.
The Timeline
- In September 2024, Trump urged CBS to fire Colbert.
- Days before the 2024 election, Trump filed a frivolous lawsuit accusing CBS of bias in broadcasting a “60 Minutes” interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The complaint alleged that the edited interview and associated programming were “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference” intended to “mislead the public and attempt to tip the scales” in Harris’ favor.
- Prominent First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams said that “the First Amendment was drafted to protect the press from just such litigation.” Harvard Law School Professor Rebecca Tushnet called it “ridiculous junk and should be mocked.” Attorney Charles Tobin warned, “This is a frivolous and dangerous attempt by a politician to control the news media.”
- February 6, 2025: Redstone told the Paramount board that she wanted to settle Trump’s lawsuit.
- April 13: Trump said that CBS “should lose their license” and he hoped that his appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr “will impose the maximum fine and punishment.”
- April 22: The producer of “60 Minutes”—a 30-year veteran of CBS—resigned with this warning: “[O]ver the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for “60 Minutes,” right for the audience.”
- April 27: “60 Minutes” co-anchor Scott Pelley praised Owens and offered an unprecedented on-air rebuke of Paramount: “Stories we’ve pursued for 57 years are often controversial—lately, the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration. Bill made sure they were accurate and fair—he was tough that way. But our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”
- May 4: “60 Minutes” aired a segment quoting prominent attorneys criticizing Trump for unlawfully targeting Big Law firms. In response, Trump threatened to sue CBS for defamation again, but he never did.
- July 1: CBS settled Trump’s frivolous “60 Minutes” lawsuit regarding the Harris interview by contributing $16 million toward Trump’s future presidential library.
- July 14: In Colbert’s first appearance after a two-week vacation, he returned to “The Late Show” and joked that Paramount’s settlement with Trump was “a big fat bribe.”
- July 15: Skydance’s David Ellison was in Washington to meet with FCC chairman Carr and other FCC officials. Later the company said that Ellison “discussed Skydance’s commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS’ editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.”
- July 17: During the taping of “The Late Show,” Colbert informed his audience that CBS had informed him the prior evening that he and his program had been terminated, effective May 2026.
- July 18: Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings…”
The Other Possibility: Mismanagement
Already swirling in controversy over the departure of “60 Minutes” producer and settling the Trump case, Paramount and CBS anticipated the outrage and skepticism that terminating Colbert and “The Late Show” would generate. Contemporaneously with Colbert’s firing, George Cheeks (co-CEO of Paramount Global and president and CEO of CBS), Amy Reisenbach (president of CBS Entertainment), and David Stapf (president of CBS Studios) issued a statement declaring: “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Following the announcement, “leaked” reports from anonymous CBS sources and “sources close to the network” suggested that “The Late Show” was losing millions of dollars yearly.
Maybe it was. But that argument proves too much.
“[T]wo people familiar with the show’s finances” told The New York Times anonymously that the show “was racking up losses of tens of millions of dollars a year.” If true, the losses weren’t a new problem. And there’s no evidence that CBS gave Colbert, who produces the top-rated show, an opportunity to explore less expensive production possibilities.
So why announce cancellation of the program 10 months before it would leave the air in mid-2026?
It’s possible—but unlikely—that Colbert’s contract required 10-months’ advance notice of termination. But if so, CBS’ failure to include such context to blunt the otherwise apparent connection to the merger was a profound management failure.
On the other hand, if Colbert’s contract did not require 10 months advance notice prior to termination, the announcement was either: 1) one more effort to grease the Paramount-Skydance merger skids by “bending the knee” to Trump; or 2) a different management failure that intensified the preexisting cloud over CBS’ integrity.
Either way, Paramount and CBS owe shareholders and viewers an answer to a simple question: Why now?
Their first press release was an exercise in obfuscation.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular