Want better news? Block Gannett-Belo deal

[Commentary] Local broadcasts are becoming simulcasts, with the same cookie-cutter content piped in from distant corporate headquarters, once-competitive stations combined into single newsrooms and fewer journalists forced to fill more hours of airtime. Could it get any worse? Oh, yes.

On June 13, Gannett announced a $2.2 billion acquisition of rival TV group Belo Corp. The deal would double the number of TV stations Gannett owns and make the company — already the nation’s largest newspaper publisher by circulation — the third-largest local TV chain in terms of revenue, according to BIA/Kelsey. In Seattle, Gannett would take over NBC affiliate KING 5, and its corporate footprint would cover the Northwest with stations in Spokane, Boise and Portland, plus the daily newspaper in Oregon’s capital city, Salem. Gannett would be even more dominant in other markets. The company would control the top two network affiliates in St. Louis; the daily newspaper and ABC station in Louisville; two stations plus a piece of the daily paper in Tucson; and three TV stations plus the daily Arizona Republic in Phoenix. That’s a massive amount of media power for one company. The FCC needs to end this charade. If the agency’s rules don’t allow mergers between these stations, then de facto mergers shouldn’t be allowed either. If that means breaking up a few big media companies along the way and stopping this deal, so be it. Want better local news? Blocking the Gannett-Belo deal would be a great way to start.
[Aaron is the president of Free Press]