Ownership

[Commentary] As we remember the 50th Anniversary of the silencing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream; as we March for Our Lives to end the senseless violence that continues to silence the dreams of so many; and as we continue to fight for justice and equality in social, economic, and digital treatment; we urge the Federal Communications Commission to take its rightful place in history by mirroring Dr. King’s legacy of compassion, equality, and opportunity. A good start would be for the FCC to act on several imperatives that will help to close the digital divide:

President Donald Trump’s repeated Twitter attacks on Amazon have already dented the e-commerce giant’s stock price. But if he really wants to hammer the company and its ultra-billionaire CEO Jeff Bezos, the president has some tools at his disposal — using the government's spending and regulating powers. Here's a look at the threats the company may face if President Trump follows up his words with action:

1. Postal rates
2. Cloud computing
3. Antitrust
4. State-level scrutiny

Apparently CBS has made an offer to acquire Viacom and the bid is contingent on its management team being at the helm of the merged entity. The all-stock offer is below Viacom’s current market valuation of $12.5 billion. In its offer, CBS proposed that Chief Executive Leslie Moonves and President Joe Ianniello would run the combined company for the foreseeable future, which could make Viacom CEO Bob Bakish an odd man out. Both CBS and Viacom are controlled by media mogul Sumner Redstone’s holding company National Amusements, which has a nearly 80% voting stake in each firm.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social network had no immediate plans to apply a strict new European Union law on data privacy in its entirety to the rest of the world, as the company reels from a scandal over its handling of personal information of millions of its users. Zuckerberg sadi that Facebook already complies with many parts of the law ahead of its implementation in May. He said the company wanted to extend privacy guarantees worldwide in spirit, but would make exceptions, which he declined to describe.

[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.