A coalition of 16 press freedom, civil liberties, and labor organizations has issued a sharp warning to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging the agency to abandon proposed rule changes that could dramatically expand corporate control over local broadcast media. In a letter submitted on the final day of the FCC’s public comment period, the coalition argued that any move to loosen existing ownership limits threatens “the independence of the nation’s press and the vitality of its local journalism.”
The focus of concern is the National Television Multiple Ownership Rule, which currently caps a single broadcast company’s national audience reach at 39 percent. The rule has long served as a guardrail against monopolistic consolidation in the media sector. But the Trump administration’s FCC, led by Chair Brendan Carr, has signaled its willingness to reconsider or eliminate this limit—a move critics say would pave the way for conglomerates like Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar, and Fox Corporation to extend their dominance even further across the country.
“Allowing for even more media consolidation poses too great a risk to our democracy, and to the free press on which it depends,” the coalition wrote. The groups include Free Press, Reporters Without Borders USA, the NewsGuild-CWA, Society of Professional Journalists, Writers Guild of America East and West, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, Open Markets Institute, and the National Coalition Against Censorship, among others.
The letter outlines how the last three decades of deregulation have already transformed the broadcast landscape—largely to the detriment of local journalism. “In our experience, the past 30 years of media consolidation have not fostered a better environment for local news and information,” the letter states. “The Telecommunications Act of 1996 radically changed the radio and television broadcasting marketplace, causing rapid consolidation of radio station ownership.”
Since that legislation passed, the coalition argues, regulators have repeatedly relaxed television ownership limits, triggering further waves of mergers and acquisitions. The result has been a cascade of newsroom layoffs, the shuttering of local news outlets, and the proliferation of “news deserts”—communities where reliable local coverage has all but disappeared. “The full harms of [consolidation] are being felt by local newsrooms and the communities they serve,” the letter says.
The coalition also highlights how consolidation has extended beyond broadcast television into nearly every facet of the media ecosystem. Newspapers, digital publications, and even online platforms have seen ownership concentrate in fewer and fewer hands, often controlled by wealthy executives or politically connected corporations. The rise of digital advertising giants like Alphabet (Google), Amazon, and Meta (Facebook) has compounded the problem by siphoning off the ad revenue that once funded robust local newsrooms.
“Over a similar period, the economic model for news production has been undercut by technology platforms owned by the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, which have offered an advertising model for better targeting readers, listeners, and viewers, and attracted much of the advertising revenue that once funded local journalism,” the letter notes.
While lobbyists for large media companies often argue that further consolidation is necessary to compete with Big Tech, the coalition rejects this logic. “Lobbyists working for large news media companies argue that further consolidation is the economic answer, giving them the size necessary to compete with Big Tech,” the letter reads. “In fact, the opposite appears to be true.”
Supporting this claim is a recent report by Free Press, which accompanied the coalition’s letter and introduced a new Media Capitulation Index. The report found a “pervasive pattern of editorial compromise and capitulation” at 35 of the largest media and tech companies in the U.S., suggesting that newsrooms owned by powerful conglomerates have become less willing to challenge political authority. “The interests of wealthy media owners have become so inextricably entangled with government officials that they’ve limited their news operations’ ability to act as checks against abuses of political power,” the coalition wrote.
In a separate statement issued Tuesday, Free Press senior economic and policy adviser S. Derek Turner, who co-authored the organization’s filing, directly accused FCC Chair Brendan Carr of aligning the agency’s direction with the political interests of former President Donald Trump. “Placing a for-sale sign on the public airwaves and inviting media companies to monopolize the local news markets as long as they agree to display political fealty to Donald Trump and the MAGA movement,” Turner said. “The price broadcast companies have to pay for consolidating further is bending the knee, and the line starts outside of the FCC chairman’s office.”
Turner went on to say, “Trump’s autocratic demands seemingly have no bounds, and Carr apparently has no qualms about satisfying them. Carr’s grossly partisan and deeply hypocritical water-carrying for Trump has already stained the agency, making it clear that this FCC is no longer independent, impartial, or fair.”
Beyond the concerns over political favoritism and editorial interference, the coalition also questioned whether the FCC has the legal authority to unilaterally revise the national audience reach cap. They cited a 2004 congressional action that established the 39 percent threshold, suggesting that only Congress has the power to amend it. “The agency actually lacks the authority to change the national audience reach cap,” the letter argued.
The broader message from the coalition is clear: preserving the diversity, independence, and local accountability of American journalism demands resisting further consolidation. “Rather than pursue a path of further industry consolidation,” the letter concludes, “the groups urged the FCC to uphold its obligation to promote competition, localism and diversity in the U.S. media.”
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