Trump vs CBS is Just the Start. Here’s How to Hit the Fake News Where It Really Hurts…

President Trump has once again thrown down the gauntlet against the corporate media—this time by taking CBS to court. But we must go beyond the courtroom to move from outrage to reform. It’s time to hit fake news where it hurts most: financially. The Federal Communications Commission should cap reverse retransmission fees (revenue that local TV stations pay back to their affiliated broadcast networks) at 30 percent to protect local broadcasters, lower consumer costs, and strike a decisive blow against the corrupt media cartel. Excessive reverse retransmission fees are among the least understood but most abused levers in the modern media economy. Reforming them concretely realigns our communications infrastructure with the public interest and President Trump’s America First agenda.