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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Is Under Investigation Over $3.9 Billion Media Deal

According to a report in The New York Times (Warning: source may be paywalled), Ajit Pai and the FCC approved a set of rules in 2017 to allow television broadcasters to increase the number of stations they own. Weeks after the rules were approved, Sinclair Broadcasting announced a $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune Media. PC Gamer reports: The deal was made possible by the new set of rules, which subsequently raised some eyebrows. Notably, the FCC's inspector general is reportedly investigating if Pai and his aides abused their position by pushing for the rule changes that would make the deal possible, and timing them to benefit Sinclair. The extent of the investigation is not clear, nor is how long it will take. However, it does bring up the question of whether Pai had coordinated with Sinclair, and it could force him to publicly address the topic, which he hasn't really done up to this point.

Legislators first pushed for an investigation into this matter last November. At the time, a spokesman for the FCC representing Pai called the allegations "baseless" and alluded to it being a partisan play by those who oppose the chairman. "For many years, Chairman Pai has called on the FCC to update its media ownership regulations," the FCC spokesman said. "The chairman is sticking to his long-held views, and given the strong case for modernizing these rules, it's not surprising that those who disagree with him would prefer to do whatever they can to distract from the merits of his proposals."

10 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. It would be nice... by sgage · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... to see Ajit Pai in an orange jumpsuit being led off to prison in handcuffs. Maybe that would wipe the stupd shit-eating grin off his face. He is an arrogant sociopathic twat, and I would love to see justice served. But I don't expect to.

    1. Re:It would be nice... by crunchygranola · · Score: 4, Informative

      It is not the current name of a condition used for diagnosis today because it is split into two more specific conditions: Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and Dissocial Personality Disorder (DPD). So it the condition is not imaginary nor did it disappear, it is simply not how it is currently classified for the purposes of medical diagnosis.

      But unless you are psychologist or a psychiatrist, it is a perfectly reasonable and well understood term for the lay public to use.

      --
      Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
  2. In other news... by ZorinLynx · · Score: 5, Funny

    The fox has been put in charge of investigating missing chickens. The chickens have not been seen since last week and the fox, who has been guarding the henhouse for a month now, has promised to get to the bottom of this.

    "I won't sleep until I find out what happened to those delicious chickens," he said, his breath smelling strongly of Listerine.

    1. Re:In other news... by sessamoid · · Score: 5, Informative

      Obama included him as one of the FCC commissioners largely to appease Republican Mitch McConnell who pushed for his appointment, IIRC, but he was NOT made chairman. He's McConnell's dog, and clearly a Republican tool.

      --
      "No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
  3. They'll pay a fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No one ever goes to jail. This country is so fucking corrupt.

  4. Swamp Thing by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Serious question: Did Donald Trump appoint anyone who isn't corrupt, tied to neo-nazis or doesn't beat women? I mean, you'd think that by accident he'd have chosen at least one person for some department who isn't crooked or in some other manner fucked up. There's been so much turnover in the administration, at some point he will run out of shitty people to appoint.

    If any of you know of any member of the current administration who doesn't have the stink of corruption on them, could you please list them? I'll wait here. I really want to be proven wrong, because otherwise I'd have to accept Donald Trump as the world's greatest supervillain, and that would make me have to give him some grudging respect.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Swamp Thing by sgage · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Trump drained the swamp alright - he drained it right into his administration. What a scam his whole campaign turns out to be - surprise surprise!

    2. Re: Swamp Thing by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Ambassador to El Salvador.

      Man is squeaky clean.

      He was appointed by Obama in 2015.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  5. I don't see a problem by bogie · · Score: 5, Funny

    If we had one single company that owned all the TV stations all the magazines all the radio stations and all the Internet infrastructure i'm sure we would get better customer service and the pricing would probably be better too. Why do liberals keep wanting to harm corporations who are just trying to innovate?

    --
    If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
  6. Modernizing? by omnichad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, "modernizing" a rule means forgetting what corruption led up to making the rules in the first place. Forget learning from past mistakes - corporations are better now. Less evil.