In a new opinion piece published by Fortune, Nexstar founder, chairman and CEO Perry Sook vigorously defended the Nexstar/Tegna deal as “vital to the future of local television and local journalism,” and argued that local broadcast news operations could collapse and disappear, just as newspapers did, if the deal is not allowed to go through.
The OpEd piece comes at a time when Nexstar Tegna deal is bogged down in litigation after being approved by the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.
In April a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California issued an injunction preventing Nexstar from merger operations with Tegna while the court considers an antitrust suit filed by state Attorneys General and DirecTV.
In the OpEd, Sook stressed that “outdated” broadcast stations ownership rules have crippled local broadcasters and have allowed big tech to dominate the media landscape, creating an “inflection point” similar to what the newspaper industry faced before its collapse.
“In an era of rampant misinformation and growing polarization, local journalists provide a critical counterweight — offering verified facts and a forum for civic engagement,” Sook said, adding that sustaining that mission “in today’s environment requires [the kind of] scale” the Nexstar/Tegna merger would create.
“This transaction is vital to the future of local television and local journalism. Without the ability to grow, local broadcasters will struggle to compete for audiences, attract advertising, and invest in the journalism that is vital to our communities.”
The alternative of refusing to change ownership rules would be “dire,” hurling local communities into a “a future where Americans rely on algorithm-driven feeds, viral content, and AI-generated summaries for information. A future where local voices are diminished or disappear altogether. A future where fewer institutions are dedicated to reporting facts, holding power to account, and fostering informed civic dialogue…This deal offers us all a chance to preserve real news options for future generations of Americans.”
The full piece is available here.
