Today, the Coalition to Save Local Media is announcing the National Hispanic Media Coalition as a new member. NHMC is joining forces with 21 other diverse Coalition to Save Local Media members to stop the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger.
“The proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger threatens the independent and diverse news media that is essential to our democracy. This merger would be especially harmful to media owners of color who would be crowded out by rampant media consolidation. We need more diverse voices and more opportunities for ownership for people of color, not less,” said Carmen Scurato, director of policy and legal affairs for the National Hispanic Media Coalition. “Instead of weakening media ownership rules as the FCC plans to do this week, the Commission should seek answers from Sinclair-Tribune on how they plan to comply with existing laws, which thus far they have failed to do. In joining the Coalition to Save Local Media, the National Hispanic Media Coalition is excited to join a growing chorus of voices calling on the FCC to deny the Sinclair-Tribune merger.”
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is the media watchdog for the Latino community, ensuring that Latinos are fairly and consistently represented in news and entertainment and that their voices are heard over the airwaves and on the internet. For over a decade, the National Hispanic Media Coalition has called for the FCC to immediately provide timely data and analysis about the effect of media ownership limits to combat the challenges that keep broadcast licenses held by people of color far below 10 percent at a time when over a third of Americans are people of color.
The Coalition to Save Local Media came together to stop the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger. The Coalition is nonpartisan and includes members on both sides of the aisle. Notably, the Coalition includes members that have previously been on opposite sides of regulatory fights. The Coalition to Save Local Media will continue to call for this mega-merger to be further scrutinized by the FCC, Department of Justice, and other parties and ultimately be denied.
Members of the Coalition to Save Local Media include: American Cable Association, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, A Wealth of Entertainment channel, Cinemoi, Common Cause, the Competitive Carriers Association, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, DISH, Indivisble – Herndon & Reston, ITTA, Latino Victory Project, Leased Access Programmers Association, NABET-CWA, NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association, One America News Network, Parents Television Council, Public Knowledge, RIDE TV, the Sports Fans Coalition, TheBlaze, and UCC.