I Strongly Object to Sinclair/Tribune S Petition to Allow for Them to Substantially Exceed

I strongly object to Sinclair/Tribune’s petition to allow for them to substantially exceed current Federal limits on station ownership. According to the FCC document requesting the waiver, “According to the Parties, the proposed transaction would result in Sinclair exceeding the national television ownership limit by 6.5%.” This disclosure by itself should invalidate the request. There should be no need for one company to come this close to 50% of broadcast coverage on our public airwaves, and this request would put them closer to 50% than the 39% threshold that now exists in FCC regulations. This threshold is already too high in my opinion. There should be federal protection against any corporate entity owing such a large share of broadcast bandwidth, regardless of the corporate political philosophy. Particularly since the important case of Citizens United v. FEC, in which corporate monies are effectively unbounded in political campaigns, the FCC must ensure that our public airwaves remain sheltered against a monopolistic corporate message getting out to the general public. Further, Sinclair Broadcasting has violated other broadcasting standards by forcing its stations to interject political commentary into its local news segments during the 2016 campaign in favor of one candidate or corporate perspective, as covered in numerous news articles in the New York Times and Washington Post and other publications. Citations are provided below. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22788-2004Oct10.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/media/sinclair-broadcast-komo- conservative-media.html

Dr. Paul Ruscher, Eugene, Oregon