Ownership

[Analysis] President Trump's tweet that CNN President Jeff Zucker's “job is in jeopardy” is more than mere gossip. It carries an implied threat because President Trump could influence Zucker's employment status. The Justice Department is suing to block AT&T's $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner, CNN's parent company. What could move President Trump to drop his protest? Ousting Zucker would certainly fit into an appeasement effort.

On the surface, the AT&T-Time Warner deal bears a strong resemblance to Comcast's 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal. Both AT&T and its opponents have already invoked the Comcast-NBC Universal merger in support of their case. In its response to the Department of Justice's lawsuit, AT&T argued that the government’s 2011 decision to approve the Comcast deal, with conditions, set a precedent that should be respected.

David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.” Smith said that print — as in newspapers and magazines — is a reality-distorting tool of leftists. Print media, he said, has “no credibility” and no relevance. “I must tell that in all the 45 plus years I have been in the media business I have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality especially in today’s world with the shameful political environment and generally complete lack of integrity.

Nothing helps President Donald Trump more — or tightens his hold on his base more securely — than his cozy, mutually-beneficial relationship with conservative TV. Trump's feedback loop, including cable-news coverage, and mainstream-media squawking, convinces the president that he's winning his war on media.

Critics say the Federal Communications Commission is responsible for enabling and emboldening the right-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group in ways that could ultimately hurt conservatives and liberals alike.The FCC eliminated the “main studio rule,” a federal requirement that radio and TV stations operate a physical studio in the areas where they were licensed. In voting to repeal the rule, FCC Chairman Pai said technological advances make it no longer necessary for stations to keep the lights on in a physical studio; many broadcasters, including NPR, agreed.

Critics are calling Sinclair's promos pro-President Donald Trump propaganda.

[Commentary] President Donald Trump’s April 2 Sinclair tweet highlights the fact that in his administration, companies that favor the president seem to get treated one way, while those who appear to be neutral or even opposed to his administration risk getting publicly abused by him.  President Trump’s tweet in support of Sinclair dredges up this disconcerting history. But it’s also troubling on a deeper level.

Charter Communications has lost a lawsuit in which it accused a workers' union of sabotaging the Charter network during an ongoing strike. Charter sued IBEW Local Union No. 3 in a New York state court in October in 2017, alleging that union leadership "orchestrated" vandalism of coaxial and fiber cables that had caused outages for tens of thousands of subscribers. The lawsuit said vandalism hit Charter cables in New York City more than 125 times during the strike, which began in March 2017 and is now entering its second year.

A Q&A with Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia University and coiner of the term "net neutrality."

Sinclair Broadcast Group is defending itself against criticism for a recent on-air promotional message many of its local news anchors were asked to read that warned viewers about "false news" on competing media outlets.  Sinclair produced the spots to express concern about the spread of such false media reports such as the "Pope Endorses Trump" fake news story that quickly spread across social media, said Scott Livingston, Sinclair's senior vice president of news. “Some other false stories, like the fake ‘Pizzagate’ story, can result in dangerous consequences,” he said.