To the average consumer, local news may seem…local – but in reality, a few hedge funds – many of which have little knowledge or interest in supporting local journalism – and large media conglomerates own and operate most of the newsrooms shaping local headlines. In 2022, Re:Create published a blog post revealing the unparalleled influence of just three major media conglomerates that owned hundreds of outlets: Alden Global Capital (a hedge fund, not a media company), Gannett, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. While these are the most powerful players in the game, other media giants like McClatchy and Hearst are also contributing to the local news takeover.

This week sees the release of Stripped For Parts, a documentary that tells the story of brave journalists who uncovered the truth about Alden Global Capital’s business model of buying and gutting local newspapers. In anticipation, we took another look at the media ownership landscape, and we found that the same conglomerates have continued to buy up local news outlets, at journalism’s expense. The map below gives an updated snapshot of big media control over hundreds of local news outlets in the U.S.

Link Tax Legislation Is a Reward to Vultures Who Gut Local News

While the exact number of outlets each of these three conglomerates owns may have changed  over the last three years, one thing remains constant: the media conglomerates’ and hedge funds’ predatory agenda. They have continued to acquire and divest local news stations like The Press Democrat, The Baltimore Sun, and the Austin-American Statesman, while closing down or cutting staff at local publications. And because owning and gutting the majority of local news outlets across the U.S. isn’t enough power and profit for them, in recent years, these media conglomerates have pushed Congress to pass link tax legislation, such as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) and California Journalism and Preservation Act (CJPA), that would reward them for gutting local news.

Supporting local journalism is critical to American democracy, but as Re:Create and our members (PK, EFF, Disruptive Competition Project) have argued for years, link tax legislation is the wrong answer and would only further empower these media giants and hurt local journalism and journalists. Digital rights advocates, librarians, and tech experts continue to oppose link tax legislation like the JCPA because it would:

• Establish unconstitutional new “access rights” that actually restrict access to news
• Increase censorship by incentivizing tech companies to limit the reach of content that is under a link tax
• Disrupt the free flow of information by making access to news and information more expensive for consumers and businesses
• Violate the First Amendment by forcing websites to carry third-party content
• Expand the rights of content owners beyond traditional bounds of copyright laws
• Exacerbate and incentivize misinformation and clickbait
• Discourage hiring full-time journalists
• Accelerate big media’s consolidation of local news outlets

Control the Newsroom, Control the Narrative

If you have read about these big media acquisitions over the years, you may be wondering “Why haven’t I seen more content highlighting these concerns?” The answer is simple: the same people pushing for link tax legislation own the majority of local news outlets in the U.S and dictate the narrative. This consolidation of control sets a dangerous precedent, putting a free and independent press in the hands of venture capitalists instead of journalists. The outsized influence of these conglomerates is clear: just last week, big media flexed its muscles when ABC affiliate stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group refused to air the return of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, impacting millions of viewers from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Oregon.

Given these concerns, why would we pass legislation that merely rewards the hedge-funds-turned-media-conglomerates that control local news, giving them more incentive to acquire and strip-mine vital local papers and stations? As big media continues to push for link tax legislation that would only support their decades-old, vulture capitalist agenda, we urge lawmakers to take a step towards protecting fact-based, independent news and journalists by rejecting link tax legislation.

Interested in speaking with Executive Director Brandon Butler about this issue? Reach out to press@recreatecoalition.com