Aaron Alberico

Today was an awkward day for FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to promote our publication in his infographic on prison cell phone jamming because, well, look at the top story...

Brilliant piece by @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social

Newsmax sues Fox News for allegedly abusing monopoly power Newsmax filed a lawsuit accusing conservative news giant Fox News of suppressing its right-leaning competitors.

Newsmax is suing Fox. Tragic. www.cnbc.com/2025/09/03/f...

Former FCC staffer, named as potential commissioner nominee, may have violated Hatch Act - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Gavin Wax, a former FCC staffer, may have violated the Hatch Act several times during his brief tenure at the agency earlier this year.

NEW: Former FCC staffer Gavin Wax may have violated the Hatch Act several times during his brief tenure at the agency earlier this year. Now, he's been named as a potential commissioner nominee.

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

With Trump’s Bribe Paid, His Lackey FCC Quickly Rubber Stamps CBS Merger With the cowards at CBS/Paramount having paid their $16 million bribe to the King, Trump’s FCC has quickly ended its phony “investigation” into the media giant, and given its rubb…

The CBS scandal demonstrates how right wing oligarchs are destroying what's left of real U.S. journalism and replacing it with corporatist infotainment and right wing propaganda.

While lying and claiming they're noble defenders of free speech restoring sagging trust in American media.

Now with Trump actively suing Rupert Murdoch could the #FCC revive MAD's petition? I think the likelihood that an appeal would be considered just went way up.

MAD co-founder Jonathan Reiss on why they appealed:

"We are right on the facts. Plus, our appeal will demonstrate the difference between our petition and the flimsy cases that Carr has embraced and can be used to strengthen the rules preventing the weaponization of free speech."

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MAD appealed the decision, saying:

"The decision by previous FCC leadership to ignore Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch's serious character flaws highlighted in multiple court decisions was as misguided as the current Chair's decision not to resurrect MAD's petition."

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FCC reinstates complaints against ABC, CBS and NBC for 2024 election coverage Before Trump appointee Brendan Carr stepped in, outgoing chair had rejected complaints as trying to ‘weaponize’ FCC

Days later, Trump's #FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr reinstated all the complaints except for one...

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Outgoing FCC Chair Dismisses Complaints Against TV Stations That ‘Seek to Weaponize’ Agency: ‘The FCC Should Not Be the President’s Speech Police’ FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed four complaints and petitions against local TV stations that seek to 'undermine the First Amendment.'

Following the election, then Chair @jrosenworcel.bsky.social ‬dismissed MAD’s petition alongside several Trump-backed complaints targeting CBS, ABC, and NBC.

She wrongly lumped MAD’s case—grounded in judicial findings against Fox—with partisan screeds.

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Fox Faces FCC License Threat Over False Election Claims & Jan. 6 Attack (Updated with second Fox statement) Fox may have forked over $787 million to avoid going to trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit over false 2020 election claims, but the Rupert Murdoch...

The case centers on Fox’s Philadelphia station. MAD argued that Rupert & Lachlan Murdoch’s role in spreading false election claims disqualified them from holding a broadcast license.

They lacked the character expected of those entrusted to hold those licenses.

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A former Fox executive now argues Murdoch is unfit to own TV stations Preston Padden helped Rupert Murdoch launch the Fox broadcast network in the 1990s. Now he argues Murdoch has proved unfit to hold the license for a Philadelphia station.

Two years ago, the @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social petitioned the #FCC to deny the broadcast license for one of Rupert Murdoch's television stations. They were joined by a bipartisan group of former Fox executives and FCC Commissioners.

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Interesting development. Could we finally see Trump reverse his administration's decision to let Rupert Murdoch off the hook at the #FCC?

🧵 A thread...

Elon Musk's favorability among Republicans dropped 16 points since March, Quinnipiac says The Tesla CEO's favorability scores have declined among GOP voters, according to public opinion survey results from Quinnipiac University.

Quinnipiac took a new American public opinion survey and asked voters about how they view Musk and DOGE. The GOP / Dem divide is massive. Also, Musk's favorability dropped among GOP voters from March to June. www.cnbc.com/2025/06/11/e...

Check out this interview with @angelasiefer.bsky.social and Light Reading's @nicfer.bsky.social on Trump’s move to end the Digital Equity Act—and the bipartisan programs it would have funded to close the digital divide.

A must-listen 🎙️

Angry Trump Kills “Woke” Program—and Accidentally Screws MAGA Voters It’s called the Digital Equity Act. That word—“equity”—caught the White House’s attention. So now Trump is moving to nix funding—but it could cut off millions destined for red America.

Imagine being so racist that hearing or seeing the word “equity” sends you into a blind rage and you start wrecking your own house. newrepublic.com/article/1950...

The front page of the Chicago Sun-Times, featuring the pope waving under the words "DA POPE!" Subheadline says, "Chicagoan Robert Prevost, known to many on the South Side as 'Father Bob' and now to millions as Pope Leo XIV, becomes first American pontiff. The best coverage of Chicago's pope, pages 2-10."

Today's front page.

Pure corruption

The future of cable growth still looks bleak, for now Cable net adds may not return to growth for another four years due to an immigration slowdown, says New Street ResearchNot the brightest outlook given operato | Current U.S. immigration policy calls f...

Maybe big cable ought to worry more about shoring up their own businesses than paying organizations like @itif.org & Phoenix Center to write about a handful of public broadband sales (which are mostly very old cable systems with skyrocketing program costs). www.fierce-network.com/broadband/fu...

Some interesting #FCC news… 👀

Former FCC Chairs: Trump's FCC Attacks Its Principles | Opinion Using vague government policy as a tool of political coercion is a tactic historically associated with authoritarian regimes.

Fmr Chairs warn: The #FCC is being weaponized for political retribution under the false banner of the First Amendment #1A

In this urgent piece, Tom Wheeler & Al Sikes —two public servants with unique insight—expose how Carr’s actions break tradition and democratic norms.

More in @newsweek.com 👇

Nats win!! What a comeback

First @nationals.com game of the year! Still in the first inning and @carlyoboth.bsky.social already caught a foul ball ⚾️

When Google was ruled to be a monopolist last August, we called it a ‘reckoning for Big Tech.’ Today, that reckoning continues.

Read @sumitecon.bsky.social's full statement on the Google Ad Tech decision:

nextgencomp.tech/statements/n...

Elon Musk's EV maker Tesla was found to have violated workers' rights previously by the NLRB, and labor agency had myriad of open cases at the time of the DOGE incursion into its systems reported by a whistleblower... www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...

Sometimes life just needs yoga cats 🧘‍♂️

This doesn’t end well for anyone. Local news stations are essential to their communities, and putting more power in the hands of one company like Nexstar undermines journalism. We need more competition in media, not less.

Petition at FCC to Examine Sinclair Broadcasting Character Qualifications to be a TV Licensee April 14, 2025 Today, Frequency Forward, a public interest watchdog and advocacy group and member Randy Bryce of Caledonia, Wiscons...

A legal Petition filed today at the FCC from Frequency Forward & @IronStache Randy Bryce details Sinclair Broadcasting misrepresentations to the Commission, saying FCC should not allow Sinclair to hold ANY licenses to broadcast:
www.suewilsonreports.com/2025/04/peti...