The NewsGuild-CWA today joined an emergency petition to the Federal Communications Commission demanding a freeze to a recent illegal order that would lead to further media consolidation.
Under legislation approved by Congress over 20 years ago, television station owners are currently prohibited from reaching over 39% of the U.S. national audience. When the FCC repealed that rule on October 1, it violated the law and that Congressional mandate.
The FCC’s recent order would effectively allow conglomerates and even monopolies to dominate the broadcast landscape. The petition filed by The NewsGuild-CWA and others notifies the FCC of a forthcoming legal challenge to the repeal.
“Consolidation is the main reason we have lost tens of thousands of journalism jobs in the past two decades,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “Media workers and the public lose out when news organizations merge into conglomerates. The FCC’s disregard for the law will inevitably lead to more job losses, less informed local communities and increased costs for every American.”
The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 28,000 workers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. The Guild’s membership includes workers in broadcast, online and print news outlets. Further media consolidation will lead to job cuts and reduction of news coverage, harming all Guild members.
A broad coalition filed the petition requesting an emergency stay on the rule and includes the Guild, NABET-CWA Local 51, Writers Guild of America West, Writers Guild of America East, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, Public Knowledge, Reporters Without Borders USA, Future Film Coalition and Free Press.
“Localism, viewpoint diversity, and competition in the media are all crucial to a functioning democracy, and by repealing the National Television Multiple Ownership Rule, the FCC is paving the way for corporations to erode an informed public and our democracy through massive media consolidation deals,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The need for civic and community engagement is essential, especially as First Amendment challenges and bullying have invaded the media landscape and threatened to prevent people from having choices in the media they consume. Democracy Forward is honored to represent this coalition to fight for the current limits regarding media consolidation.”
Today’s emergency petition follows other actions by the Guild to fight media consolidation and attacks on journalists by the current administration. In 2023, the Guild and others destroyed an $8.6 billion takeover attempt of TEGNA by hedge fund Standard General. The Guild has also joined five lawsuits against the Trump administration for violations of the First Amendment and other Congressional mandates. Those include attempts to reduce the time international journalists can work in the U.S., assaults by federal agents in three states and attempts to halt Congressionally-approved funding for Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.