December 2017

Holiday Handouts: How the FCC Gave Gifts to Sinclair and Lumps of Coal for Consumers

At the end of the day, each action the Federal Communications Commission took described below has furthered Sinclair’s efforts to merge with Tribune at the expense of consumers.

Gift 1: Creating the Landscape for Sinclair to Merge by Reinstating the UHF Discount

Gift 2: Feeding Into Sinclair’s Business Model by Eliminating the Main Studio Rule

Gift 3: Sweeping Away Legal Problems With the Merger by Relaxing Media Ownership Rules

Gift 4: Giving Sinclair Benefits in the ATSC 3.0 Transition

Gift 5: Proposing to Eliminate the National Ownership Cap

Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options

The events surrounding the FBI’s NorthernNight investigation follow a pattern that repeated for years as the Russian threat was building: US intelligence and law enforcement agencies saw some warning signs of Russian meddling in Europe and later in the United States but never fully grasped the breadth of the Kremlin’s ambitions. Top US policymakers didn’t appreciate the dangers, then scrambled to draw up options to fight back.

President Trump retweets image depicting ‘CNN’ squashed beneath his shoe

President Donald Trump on Christmas Eve retweeted a doctored image with the CNN logo imposed on a bloodlike splatter under his shoe, prompting an outcry — with critics deeming the picture and its timing offensive.