Ajit Pai is currently being investigated for his ties to Sinclair Broadcasting (link). One of his colleagues on the FCC lays out the series of decisions he's made that directly benefits Sinclair media.
FCC Commissioner: Our Policy Is ‘Custom Built’ for Right-Wing Sinclair Broadcasting
FCC Commissioner: Our Policy Is ‘Custom Built’ for Right-Wing Sinclair Broadcasting
Sometime this spring, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to take a step without precedent in the history of U.S. communications policy. Once upon a time a watchdog agency, the FCC is going to approve a near-$4 billion merger between two companies that will result in the parent company’s programming—and probably not coincidentally, its right-wing politics—being broadcast into 72 percent of American homes.
The company, as you might have guessed, is Sinclair Broadcasting. It seeks approval to join forces with Tribune Media. The merger would eviscerate the principles the FCC was created to uphold and defend—principles such as diversity of ownership to foster competition, diversity of viewpoints to foster public debate, and localism to foster service to the community. All three have been perched precariously on the sill since the Reagan administration. But once this is approved, out the window and down to the sidewalk they’ll tumble.
Recently, I sat down with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to talk about this. She’s shocked at what is happening on the commission, to which President Obama appointed her in 2011. Since Trump became president and Pai took over, she told me, “All of our media policy decisions have one thing in common: They are all custom built for the business plans of Sinclair Broadcasting.”