The only Democrat on the board of the FCC (Federal Communications Corporation) wants to know why two of the major sources of news in the U.S.–CBS and CNN–are likely to have major investors from foreign sources.
Status, a first-rate site for coverage of media, describes the situation;
Ellison’s Sovereign Scrutiny: The lone Democrat on the FCC is pushing back on what looks like a fast-tracked blessing for one of the biggest media deals in history.
Commissioner Anna Gomez on Tuesday demanded a rigorous national security review of the foreign money flowing into David Ellison’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, a merger that would reshape Hollywood and fuse CBS News with CNN. Paramount recently revealed that 49.5% of the combined company will be owned by foreign investors—including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi—if the deal gets a green light.
► “The American public deserves to know who owns the airwaves that carry their news,” Gomez said. “I am alarmed by what appears to be an effort to rubber stamp a financial structure that places nearly half of one of America’s largest broadcast and media companies into the hands of foreign governments with documented records of press suppression and a troubling willingness to silence journalists.”

One might also ask whether they should be owned by domestic folk. The fifth estate is part of the “free press” guaranteed by the Constitution and maybe, just maybe it shouldn’t be owned at all, but stewarded like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Just sayin’.
LikeLike
I would like to know why there is foreign interest in media companies.
LikeLike