Standard General: Attacks on Tegna Deal 'Product of Racial Bias'

“It is hard to reach any conclusion other than that NewsGuild’s baseless and incessant attacks on Standard General are the product of racial bias,” said Standard General in a letter to the FCC posted Tuesday in docket 22-162. Standard said the NewsGuild sector of the Communications Workers of America union’s opposition to the deal must be based in prejudice because NewsGuild hasn’t objected to previous deals that caused more consolidation. NewsGuild also took advantage of redactions in documents about the Standard/Tegna deal to mischaracterize them, Standard said. That’s a strategy aimed “at reporters that NewsGuild seeks to entice into amplifying its false claims,” said the letter. “The NewsGuild Ex Parte Presentations do nothing more than restate the same false and misleading allegations that NewsGuild has repeated throughout this proceeding.” NewsGuild’s attorneys didn’t comment.