WASHINGTON—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. have expressed “serious concerns” about the proposed merger of Standard General with Tegna to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel 

Tegna, which manages 64 stations across 51 domestic markets, agreed in February to be acquired by Standard General for $8.6 billion including debt. The merger is currently being reviewed by the FCC and has faced a number of objections from lawmakers and public advocates and unions. 

In a letter to the chairwoman, the lawmakers pointed to the accelerating consolidation of local news outlets, and asked the FCC to closely review the pending transaction to ensure that it is in the public interest and promotes the FCC’s values of localism, competition and diversity on the airwaves.

In the letter, Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Pallone wrote: “By law, the FCC is required to determine whether the proposed transaction will serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity.  After reviewing the public record, we are concerned that this transaction would violate the FCC’s mandate by restricting access to local news coverage, cutting jobs at local television stations, and raising prices on consumers.

“Localism is a core tenet of broadcast journalism that serves the public interest – but we fear the proposed transaction could jeopardize that important goal,” the letter continued. “The proposed new owners previously told investors they believe Tegna’s local stations have too many employees, a potential signal of their intent to lay off local journalists. At the same time, they have described piping in news produced in Washington, D.C., to fill time on local newscasts as a public interest benefit, potentially leading to fewer local journalists and less local news.

“We urge you to fully examine the concerns raised by public comments – and shared by many of our colleagues in the Congress – about this proposed transaction, consistent with the applicable laws and regulations.”

In response, Standard General defended the merger, saying that the acquisition will "will yield significant public interest benefits without any countervailing public interest harms, including creating the largest minority-owned and female-led broadcast station group in U.S. history."

The company said Tegna will "actually be smaller" after the transaction, which goes counter to the lawmakers' claim of media consolidation and that there is no record of them proposing to supplant local news with news produced in Washington, D.C. It also said it doesn't plan on cutting jobs and that consumer price increase concerns are invalid since Tegna provides free over-the-air broadcasts. 

"We were... disappointed to see the FCC petitioners enlist the involvement of Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Pallone by misleading them with the same false statements they have been making to the FCC," Standard General said.

NewsGuild-CWA, among the groups opposing the merger, applauded the letter and asked the FCC to nix the deal. “Local news is being murdered by Wall Street firms who are only interested in cutting jobs to finance their debt,” the group said. “The FCC can stop this deal, protect local news and permit our members to serve the public with high quality local news.

“The letter from the Speaker and the Chairman is just one more reason the FCC should closely examine this deal and then block it in its entirety. There are no concessions Standard General can make that would turn this deal into one which serves the public interest. As the union of America’s journalists and media workers, we proclaim that it’s time for private equity to stop slaughtering our country’s free press.”

This article has been updated to include Standard General's response. 

LEAWOOD, KAN.—When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005, WWL – at the time a Belo station — managed to stay on the air due in large part to the efforts of Rick Barber, its director of technology and broadcast media when the storm struck.

But despite building a transmitter building on 14-foot concrete columns to get above sea level, installing a 1MW generator with a 1,500 gallon feed tank and installing an additional 10,000 gallon tank as a reserve, to stay on air Barber and a well-armed cadre of private security personnel hired by Belo had to transport fuel – a scarce and valuable commodity in the wake of the hurricane — to top off the generator’s tanks.

[Read: All 50 States, D.C., Opt In To FirstNet]

While Katrina is ancient history, Belo is no more and Barber has left the station, the problem of picking up the pieces after a major calamity, like a hurricane, earthquake or terrorist attack, to maintain vital, potentially lifesaving communications with the public remains.

However, with the signing of the 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill on March 23, things may be getting better for broadcasters who must grapple to stay on air in the aftermath of an emergency.

Tucked into the 2,232-page spending bill was the SANDy Act, which aims to protect the nation’s communications networks by giving radio and TV broadcasters, cable and satellite providers and wireline and mobile telephone service companies priority access to otherwise restricted areas in an emergency to make repairs and maintain service.

“Television and radio broadcasters have been trying to get priority access written into federal law since at least Hurricane Katrina, when stations were lifelines but diesel fuel deliveries to keep their generators running were blocked,” said John Lawson, executive director of the AWARN Alliance.

“The bill covers a range of communications infrastructure, but priority access for broadcast facilities may have the greatest positive impact for recovery,” said Lawson, who also serves on FEMA’s National Advisory Council Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Subcommittee.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, authored the SANDy Act and led bipartisan negotiations aimed at its passage. New Jersey was among the states that suffered communications disruptions caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

In the Senate, the bill was backed by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

NAB issued a statement lauding the bill’s passage. “NAB is grateful that this bipartisan bill acknowledging the lifeline role of local broadcasting in times of emergency is now the law of the land,” said NAB EVP Communications Dennis Wharton in the statement.