# 3/4 of US Senators want our tax money to support local news **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 25, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561 "2020-04-25T17:11:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/1 "2020-04-25T17:11:44Z")
[CNN story here](https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/24/media/senators-letter-support-local-news/index.html). This bipartisan collection of senators think that local news outlets need financial support right now. Sure, supporting local news is a good idea I guess, but those senators have massive campaign funds that are going to be used heavily for advertising on local news outlets. So they could be supporting those new outlets right now by buying ads, and they get the benefit of campaigning at the same time. Why should we the taxpayers cover this cost when they have the money, but don’t think it’s worthwhile for them to spend it right at the moment? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/2 "2020-04-25T17:22:27Z")
Who owns these local stations? What corporations would eventually get all this taxpayer money? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/3 "2020-04-25T17:39:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Who owns these local stations? What corporations would eventually get all this taxpayer money? You already know the answer to this, don’t you? I do. Which is why I’m against it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/4 "2020-04-25T17:55:13Z")
This is more about politics than directly about the coronavirus. Moving to P&E. Colibri Quarantine Zone Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/5 "2020-04-25T19:02:08Z")
The current Senate has shown it deserves to be treated with a high degree of suspicion. They may be publicly saying the intent of this proposal is to help local news reporting. But I strongly suspect that there would be some text buried in any bill that’s proposed which would give them the power to control what news is reported and how it’s reported. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/6 "2020-04-25T19:14:20Z")
Just another step in the direction of nation state-run news. Like… uhhh… what are those other countries? Oh, yeah. Russia, North Korea, China, for a start. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/7 "2020-04-25T19:24:15Z")
They are purchasing future good coverage. It’s quid pro quo all over again, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/8 "2020-04-25T19:24:50Z")
I suspect the main beneficiary of the bill will be the Sinclair Media Group. > **[Sinclair Broadcast Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Broadcast_Group)** > > Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, the company is the second-largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations (after Nexstar Media Group), owning or operating a total of 193 stations across the country in over 100 markets (covering 40% of American households) They own almost 200 local station across the country and they are huge conservative mouthpieces. They are deep in the bag for Trump. It’s just another aspect of the ongoing heist. > **[Sinclair Broadcast Group, the pro-Trump, conservative company taking over...](https://www.vox.com/2018/4/3/17180020/sinclair-broadcast-group-conservative-trump-david-smith-local-news-tv-affiliate)** > > Sinclair reaches 40 percent of households — and soon will reach 72 percent. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/9 "2020-04-25T19:29:03Z")
The Free Press problem is the worst part of this. Simply having the government determine who is a news outlet is enough of problem, having those news outlets beholding to the government is even worse. And what if I want to open a competing news outlet in my locality, do I get the funds too? I don’t think a news outlet having economic problems because of low advertising due to the pandemic was likely to survive anyway. Maybe the senate could look past the end of their noses for other businesses that need help now even if those businesses aren’t critical to re-election campaigns, not to mention the corporate media ties back to those senate campaigns and other political activity. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/10 "2020-04-25T19:36:11Z")
3/4ths would mean, at minimum, half of all Democrats. I’d have to expect that there’s some argument to be made for local news that’s not simply playing into Sinclair’s hands. Though, I do expect, that depends on the text of the legislation. The Democrats might be thinking things like, “Public Broadcasting”. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/11 "2020-04-25T19:43:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The current Senate has shown it deserves to be treated with a high degree of suspicion. They may be publicly saying the intent of this proposal is to help local news reporting. But I strongly suspect that there would be some text buried in any bill that’s proposed which would give them the power to control what news is reported and how it’s reported. They don’t even need to say it; the legislation itself makes that thought implicit. “Piss us off, and see what happens to your funding.” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-4-of-us-senators-want-our-tax-money-to-support-local-news/852561/12 "2020-04-25T19:45:20Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I suspect the main beneficiary of the bill will be the Sinclair Media Group. > > [Sinclair Broadcast Group - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Broadcast_Group) > > They own almost 200 local station across the country and they are huge conservative mouthpieces. They are deep in the bag for Trump. It’s just another aspect of the ongoing heist. > > [Sinclair, the pro-Trump, conservative company taking over local news, explained - Vox](https://www.vox.com/2018/4/3/17180020/sinclair-broadcast-group-conservative-trump-david-smith-local-news-tv-affiliate) Surprisingly, Sinclair actually has decent local reporting from to time to time and the reporters aren’t necessarily pro-Trump stooges. Some are, of course.