Hawaii: Better News Now

One year ago, Raycom Media of Alabama struck a deal that gave the company control of three of Honolulu’s local TV stations. Change the channel all you want, but KGMB, KHNL and KFVE now air the same news programming, produced out of a shared newsroom.

The effects of this "covert consolidation" are less diversity of opinion, a lack of competition among media outlets, and inadequate local news coverage.

The Federal Communications Commission has known about this deal for a year, but hasn’t done anything about it. Tell the FCC that this deal violates its ownership rules and hurts every Honolulu resident.

Please sign Free Press and Media Council Hawaii's letter to the FCC now.

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Dear Federal Communications Commission,

One year ago, Raycom Media entered into a Shared Services Agreement with MCG Capital, giving it control over Honolulu TV stations KGMB, KHNL and KFVE. In that year, we have seen our local news coverage shrink and over 60 newsroom jobs lost. We have one duplicative newscast where before there were three different newscasts. Diversity, competition and localism in our media have eroded. These are the very qualities that the FCC’s media ownership rules are intended to preserve.

This deal is nothing more than a backdoor approach to media consolidation, and the terms of the agreement violate the FCC’s ownership rules. Media Council Hawaii has filed a complaint, currently under review at the FCC. I urge you to take swift action to declare this deal in violation of FCC rules. Hawaii residents can’t afford to wait.