Sinclair buys Tribune Media for $3.9 billion

Will be interesting to see if they really launch a competitor to FoxNews.

I think Hannity would be a fool to leave, but he'll probably come out of this making even more money.

Smith has yet to settle firmly on his plans for a Fox News rival, which are contingent on Sinclair’s $3.9 billion merger with Tribune Media being approved by the Federal Communications Commission, but he has been laying out a vision for a three-to-six hour primetime conservative cable news block.

There has been considerable speculation over which hosts Smith would nab to front his effort and, last fall, he held discussions with former Fox star Bill O’Reilly, though the talks were ultimately broken off. Hannity typically does not reveal details on his contract with Fox, including when it expires and whether it has any out clauses, but said on Twitter in 2016 that he was under contract for four more years, meaning it will expire in 2020.

 

I came out of college full of idealism after working for an aggressive college paper that had strong leadership from a "tell it like it is" faculty adviser who enjoyed poking the bears in the administration. That lasted about two weeks into my first job -- until I wrote a story that made a passing reference to the "shaky" local economy and was told I should be "promoting" the area instead of spreading negativity.

 

Without any context or evidence, what’s the point of referencing a “shaky” local economy?

“Shaky” doesn’t actually tell me anything, and lacking anything to back it up, comes across as more of an opinion than a fact that belongs in a news article.

 

You’re telling me you don’t trust a 22-year-old kid two weeks out of college to have his finger on the pulse of the entire local economy!?!

 

For your information, it was a story about the local minor league baseball team that included a discussion with the GM about his aggressive promotional push in an effort to boost attendance. One of the things he cited as a challenge was the area's 15 percent unemployment rate, which I think even you would characterize as a "shaky" economy. That good enough for you?

 

If he was talking promotions I hope you suggested guest bat girls from the local nudie bar.

 

No.

Let the GM’s quote stand for itself.

Or quote a local economist.

Your own comment is worthless.

 

I could make the above comment about your opinion, because once again, you are making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. Did I say it was my opinion? My recollection of the story (and it was written 37 years ago, so the exact wording has become a bit fuzzy) was that I quoted the GM saying the local economy was shaky, which made selling tickets difficult. Even at that tender age, I thought it was a good quote and still do (and I'd been there just a few weeks, so I certainly wasn't going to offer up my own opinion on the economy). The ME disagreed and said I shouldn't have used it (and said the same thing to the sports editor, who let it get in the paper). I saw no need to list all these details in my original post.

End of discussion.

 

I did not see this coming. The FCC seems ready to kill the Sinclair-Tribune merger.

FCC Chair stands in the way of Sinclair's merger with Tribune

 

It'll happen anyway. Just you wait.

 

Uncle Vlad will serve up a novochok sandwich to smooth the way.