NABET-CWA joins broad coalition to stop Sinclair-Tribune merger

The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians – Communications Workers of America (NABET-CWA) joined the Coalition to Save Local Media, a broad and politically diverse coalition committed to stopping the harmful Sinclair-Tribune merger. The $3.9 billion deal would result in significant media consolidation, creating a broadcasting behemoth, reducing viewpoint diversity, and killing jobs. The coalition now includes 27 members.

NABET-CWA “represents more than 10,000 employees across the broadcast industry," said Charlie Braico, President of NABET-CWA. "The proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger would result in job cuts at dozens of stations across the country and would harm the ability of local stations to broadcast information vital to their communities in a responsible and unbiased manner. This merger is not in the interest of broadcast industry employees and is not in the interest of the American people."

The coalition grows as the proposed merger faces increased opposition. Lawmakers and an FCC commissioner spoke out against the deal. Attorneys general from Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island said in an FCC filing that the deal “fails to further the public interest by allowing for increased consolidation that will decrease consumer choices and voices in the marketplace.” The FCC asked for more detail before pausing the review clock to solicit additional public comment. The public record overwhelmingly opposes the merger.

NABET-CWA, along with CWA and The NewsGuild-CWA, also opposed the merger in joint comments to the FCC. “The substantial merger-related harm that would result from a Sinclair-Tribune combination – including massive consolidation in violation of Commission rules, the continued use of [joint service agreements] and [shared services agreements] to get around media ownership limits, the imposition of central casting to reduce localism and viewpoint diversity, and the associated job loss – simply cannot be resolved by station divestiture,” the comments read. “The Commission should deny the Sinclair-Tribune application.”

Links:

Sinclair to buy Tribune for $3.9 billion (Speed Matters, May 12, 2017)

Opposition to Sinclair-Tribune merger grows on left and right (Speed Matters, Aug. 11, 2017)

Sen. Durbin speaks out against Sinclair-Tribune merger (Speed Matters, Nov. 3, 2017)

Commissioner Rosenworcel decries Sinclair-Tribune merger (Speed Matters, Oct. 13, 2017)

CWA, NABET, and The NewsGuild join opposition to Sinclair-Tribune merger (Speed Matters, Aug. 31, 2017)