Thread by @NarcTranslator

Thread (1/?):

Does your local TV news station seem more biased lately?

Ever wonder who owns/runs your local station since the Trump administration loosened the rules that prevented huge media companies from owning too many? I did, and I'm concerned—and you should be too.

(2/?)
First, some background on the FCC rule change under the Trump administration that allowed huge media companies to purchase more local news organizations nationwide. After a legal battle, an opinion written by Brett Kavanaugh allowed the rule change. reuters.com/article/us-usa…

(3/?)
What Trump FCC official would overturn a rule that's been in place since 1975 to protect local news organizations from being swept up by Big Media? Welp, his name is Ajit Pai, the former chairman of the FCC.

He apparently likes news organizations BIG, like his coffee.

(4/?)
After Ajit Pai overturned the FCC rule in 2017, Tegna, Inc officially announced their purchase of San Diego's KFMB-TV (@CBS8) on February 15, 2018. David "Dave" Lougee is Tegna's CEO, you'll hear more about him & former Sen. Gordan Smith & current NAB CEO, next. It's nuts.

(5/?)
First up is David "Dave" Lougee (@DTLougee). Dave is a busy guy. He's not only overseeing dozens of local news organizations nationwide, including my local San Diego @CBS8 station, he's also on the board of the NAB Leadership Foundation. Seeing a pattern yet? Buckle up.

(6/?)
Like any good CEO, David Lougee makes deals on behalf of Tegna, Inc. with other, bigger corporations like Fox Corporation. tvnewscheck.com/business/artic…

(7/?)
From what I can tell, David Lougee isn't very social on...[checks notes]...social media—his account is locked. So maybe I can't blame the anchors and reporters of @CBS8 for following his lead. Some will block you, while others will mute you over critical Tweets. ❄

8/?
I don't know why Dave Lougee, the CEO of Tenga, Inc. locks his Twitter account, but I'm starting to have a few ideas. tvnewscheck.com/article/tag/da…

9/?
Dave Lougee is generous with his political contributions. He's given contributions to several political candidates, and for the last 8 consecutive years he has given $5000 to his friends at the National Association of Broadcasters (NABPAC). 🤑🤑🤑 fec.gov/data/receipts/…

10/?
What does NABPAC do with all the money they get from Dave Lougee and others? Give it to politicians, of course! Receipts and Disbursements can be searched here: docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg…

Next, you'll meet Gordan Smith, CEO of NABPAC, and colleague of Dave Lougee of Tegna Inc

11/?
Gordan Smith is a former Republican US Senator from Oregon, he served two terms in the Senate from 1997 to 2009. He was voted out of office and replaced by Senator Merkley (D-OR). On September 18, 2009, he was appointed president of the National Association of Broadcasters.

12/?
Here's Gordan Smith's take on LGBTQ rights:

13/?
Does former Senator Gordan Smith's views (the President and CEO) line up with NAB's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mission? 🤔

14/?
Here, the former Senator proudly discusses ways to "get around" a nation's immigration policies in order to send missionaries for his Church to India in order to "establish a pattern of dealing." He names other like-minded lawmakers that could help, too. #ChurchAndState?

15/?
Interestingly, Gordan Smith seems to flip-flop on US immigration policies when it comes to DACA ("Dreamers") who were brought to the United States as children. What does his Church feel about it? I mean it's all about the children, right? blueoregon.com/2007/10/gordon…

16/?
In this last clip of Gordan's speech, watch an Elder of the Church express his appreciation to Gordan—as a former Senator—for "paying his budget and billing fund" for his personal business interests. 😳

The full video is available on YouTube here:

17/?
At this point in the thread, the link between the CEO of media giant Tegna, Inc, Dave Lougee (@CBS8) and the CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Gordon Smith should be clear. But what's the big deal, why should I care, you ask? I'll cover that next.

18/?

The relationship between Tegna, Inc and their local news orgs:

Q: How much control of @CBS8 does Dave Lougee and Tegna have over day-to-day operations?

A: A lot, if you consider the fact KFMB-TV has been hiring its new employees from one source. Wanna guess? Hint: 👀 "31"

19/?
If you guessed TEGNA, you're right! Despite multiple local journalism schools and other organizations around the San Diego area & listed in their annual Equal Employment Opportunity (@USEEOC) report, @CBS8 seems to hire exclusively from TEGNA. Source: interactive.cbs8.com/pdfs/PublicFil…

20/?
Remember, @CBS isn't the only local station TEGNA owns in California. In some cases, TEGNA employees are assigned to more than one station at a time. Source for nationwide TEGNA brands: tegna.com/brands/

21/?
In the case of TEGNA employee Morgan Rynor, she's been a field anchor for @CBS8 in San Diego and @ABC10 in Sacramento since July 2021.

22/?
I'm not going to dive into TEGNAS's day-to-day control over a local @ABC10 station in Sacramento (yet), but I thought it was important for the bigger picture.

It is...[checks EEO report]...unsurprisingly familiar.

Source: interactive.abc10.com/pdfs/PublicFil…

23/?
To some it may seem like I'm singling out @Morgan_Rynor unfairly. I mean, what's wrong with working in two different cities in California covering politics for a large media conglomerate like TEGNA?

The problem is @TEGNA, and the person(s) behind the @CBS8 twitter account.

24/?
On the night of 9/14 Morgan's Tweet, about a very important election—the recent CA (attempted) recall of Gov. Newsom—seemed...odd to me. I wouldn't have seen it, if not for the @CBS8 account retweeting it without any comment. I've never followed Morgan. You be the judge:

25/?
And I wasn't the only person to react negatively.

What makes it worse, the ONLY mention of the election by the @CBS8 Twitter account that night was Morgan's observation of Governor Newsom's speech.

Note I directed my frustration at @CBS8, not Morgan.

26/?
I was going to let it go, but then I saw *this* from a @CBS8 news anchor the next morning. Even their TV viewers were suspicious of partisan bias in their live election coverage.

(Disclaimer: I haven't watched their TV news for a while, so I didn't see their coverage)

27/?
"You're not seeing what you think you're seeing..." —long time @CBS8 News Anchor

My brain: 😬

28/?
Note: if it's not clear, Carlo was replying to another anonymous viewer in tweet #26 of this thread 👆. I found it infuriating and decided to enter the chat.

Things went like this for the next 2 days.

29/?
On day 2: Carlo concedes to my point.

Guess what happens next?

30/?
After calling me "nutty," Carlo decided responding to an anonymous account — like mine, and the viewer he previously QT'd — "isn't a good use of time." and adding he'd be "happy to chat more" if I put my name on my account? 🤔

👉 Note the timestamp:

31/?
6 minutes later...

@CarloNews8, a *news anchor* for the @TEGNA owned @CBS8 tweets this.

32/?
And that's not all.

Following Carlo's lead —to the extreme— two of @CBS8's reporters blocked me.

Yet I persist. Next, I'll thread my my experience with anchor @MarcellaNews8's reporting on hydroxychloroquine in 2020. Will she block me, or mute me? Watch this space...