Great article Jon. I appreciate the reminder of how this history unfolded. Hopefully, this current malaise will help us wake up and begin learning from history.
Thanks, Laura. I guess I'm glad to see the fragmentation that's taking a bite out of the Nexstar and Sinclair stations, but I am really troubled by the massive share-of-voice they are accumulating at the expense of thoughtful and thorough unbiased local news.
Ed. Note: Nexstar won the TEGNA bidding war and will now run 3 of the 5 commercial TV stations in San Diego. Sinclair would have been worse, but having one company dominate share-of-voice in any market is by definition anathema to objective journalism.
Voice of San Diego: "With the Tegna acquisition, Nexstar will own 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia. The combined company will have stations in nine of the top 10 markets, and in 41 of the top 50 markets. That accounts for 80% of U.S. television-viewing households."
And there's nothing wrong with being liberal as a journalist if it means entertaining all points of view, collecting the facts (like a police blotter) and then giving it context to create an honest news STORY. It's the story that matters, Facts with CONTEXT.
All true, as you say, Jon. AND more and more people are getting their "facts" and "views" off social media and the internet, not local TV. That's part of the dilemma: almost by definition social media is a sires of gigantic echo platforms, with little or no control or regulation. I doubt seriously most American are parroting what they see on local TV, and more and more the opinions of what we call "influencers" or thought leaders," two terms and people who ought to be banished somewhere. We are a long way from regulating this, but I think it has taken over the media you and I remember.
Where are the Wolfes when we need them now?
Seems quaint in retrospect, huh? Banks, News, and Shoes
It's pretty dim in Seattle. I call the owners of the stations absentee landlords. A Shanda!
They are.
Great article Jon. I appreciate the reminder of how this history unfolded. Hopefully, this current malaise will help us wake up and begin learning from history.
Thanks, Laura. I guess I'm glad to see the fragmentation that's taking a bite out of the Nexstar and Sinclair stations, but I am really troubled by the massive share-of-voice they are accumulating at the expense of thoughtful and thorough unbiased local news.
In San Diego, Nexstar now owns three of the five traditional commercial stations....
https://timesofsandiego.com/business/2025/08/20/texas-based-nexstar-own-majority-commercial-tv-stations-san-deigo/
And either they or Sinclair will soon own at least two TVs in all their markets.
Ed. Note: Nexstar won the TEGNA bidding war and will now run 3 of the 5 commercial TV stations in San Diego. Sinclair would have been worse, but having one company dominate share-of-voice in any market is by definition anathema to objective journalism.
Voice of San Diego: "With the Tegna acquisition, Nexstar will own 265 full-power television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia. The combined company will have stations in nine of the top 10 markets, and in 41 of the top 50 markets. That accounts for 80% of U.S. television-viewing households."
And there's nothing wrong with being liberal as a journalist if it means entertaining all points of view, collecting the facts (like a police blotter) and then giving it context to create an honest news STORY. It's the story that matters, Facts with CONTEXT.
All true, as you say, Jon. AND more and more people are getting their "facts" and "views" off social media and the internet, not local TV. That's part of the dilemma: almost by definition social media is a sires of gigantic echo platforms, with little or no control or regulation. I doubt seriously most American are parroting what they see on local TV, and more and more the opinions of what we call "influencers" or thought leaders," two terms and people who ought to be banished somewhere. We are a long way from regulating this, but I think it has taken over the media you and I remember.
Well said Jon!