Jesse Jackson, CWA Unions on Opposite Sides of Standard/Tegna

The Rainbow/Push Coalition supports Standard General’s proposed buy of Tegna, said a letter to the FCC Monday from Rev. Jesse Jackson. Standard founder Soo Kim as a “Korean-American, is sensitive to the plight of racial justice, equity and inclusion,” said the letter posted Tuesday in docket 22-162. “The attack on Asian Americans, anti-semitism, and the attempt by leadership to turn back racial justice are foremost in his mind,” Jackson wrote. But a retransmission dispute between Dish Network and Cox Media Group -- which is owned by Standard/Tegna deal participant Apollo Global Management -- is evidence the acquisition will lead to retrans consent collusion, said the Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild and National Alliance of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians sectors in their Friday letter to the agency. Dish allegations that its retrans talks with Cox are delayed because Apollo sought to include stations owned by Standard and Tegna are evidence of coordinated pricing behavior, the unions said. “Such collusion could raise serious issues about violation of the Commission’s retransmission consent requirements and might even constitute a premature exercise of control of the TEGNA stations,” the unions said. Cox denied the allegations. Even if there is no violation, “this incident demonstrates precisely why the dubious structure of the proposed transactions is inherently contrary to the public interest,” said the unions. “The complexity of these interconnections cannot be effectively remediated through behavioral conditions.”