The Government Shouldn’t Pick Winners and Losers in Media

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)WHEN NEWS BROKE YESTERDAY that the Federal Communications Commission voted to allow further consolidation of local broadcast networks, few were surprised. After all, putting the brakes on ownership of the media by conservative-leaning companies like Sinclair was never in the cards for the Trump-aligned FCC or his lapdog its chair, Brendan Carr.But I do think the focus of the coverage has been ever so slightly misplaced. Much has been made of the topline number: 39 percent. For two decades, that has been the percentage of U.S. households that owners of broadcast networks were limited to. The idea was that, by keeping some control out of the hands of major conglomerates—by at least limiting their reach—local owners would keep so