CWA Statement on Court’s Denial of Standard General’s Writ of Mandamus Petition

Wall Street has grown accustomed to getting its way in Washington, but as expected, hedge fund Standard General’s attempt to push a harmful merger through the court system after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recommended taking a closer look at the deal has been found to have no merit.

On Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court denied Standard General’s request that the court force the FCC to issue a ruling on the merger. The same panel of judges earlier dismissed a separate move by the hedge fund to end the FCC’s inquiry prematurely.

The FCC has a duty to consider jobs and the labor market in any proposed media acquisition. Newsrooms in America are being bought and stripped by hedge funds like Standard General, leaving local communities with news deserts and greater risks of misinformation campaigns that threaten our democracy.

That’s why the NewsGuild-CWA and NABET-CWA, which represent thousands of media workers, fully endorsed the FCC Media Bureau’s decision to send this takeover to a hearing to understand the potential impact of this acquisition on local news, including cuts to local jobs, news programming, and an increase of consumer prices. Its refusal to rubber stamp Standard General’s proposed TEGNA takeover was the result of repeated failures by the Wall Street funds to prove that their deal served the public interest.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion