The FCC just repealed decades-old rules blocking broadcast media mergers

The FCC just repealed decades-old rules blocking broadcast media mergers

7 years ago
Anonymous $ZOEEBQ1zf0

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2017/11/16/the-fcc-just-repealed-decades-old-rules-blocking-broadcast-media-mergers/

Federal regulators rolled back a series of decades-old regulations on Thursday, in a move that will make it far easier for media outlets to be bought and sold — potentially leading to more newspapers, radio stations and television broadcasters being owned by a small handful of companies.

The regulations, eliminated in a 3-2 vote by the Federal Communications Commission, were initially put in place in the 1970s to ensure that a diversity of voices and opinions could be heard on the air or in print. But now those rules represent a threat to small outlets who are struggling to survive in a vastly different media world, according to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.