The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), the nation's oldest pro-Israel organization, today called on President Donald Trump, members of Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reject the proposed merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc.
The merger would create the largest television station group in the United States, placing unprecedented control of local broadcast news in the hands of a single corporate entity and violating the media ownership cap established by federal law.
Under current federal statute, Congress set a national television ownership cap of 39%, expressly to prevent a single company from dominating the local broadcast landscape.
The proposed Nexstar-Tegna merger would have a reach of 80% — exceeding that limit by a substantial margin.
Any approval of this transaction would constitute a clear violation of congressional intent and undermine the checks and balances designed to protect the mandate of the FCC: localism, diversity of viewpoints, and fair competition.
"At a time when media bias is already undermining public trust, the last thing our nation needs is even greater consolidation of the television broadcast industry," said Morton A. Klein, ZOA National President.
Klein said: "Local news remains the most influential source of information for millions of Americans. Handing control of a vast portion of the nation's local television stations to one politically powerful corporation — or a handful, including ABC, CBS, and NBC — poses a grave threat to the diversity of opinions essential in a free society."
Multiple studies confirm that Americans rely more on local television stations for news than on any other medium. Even as digital platforms expand, local TV remains the most trusted and widely accessed source of daily information, especially in regional and mid-sized markets.
This makes local broadcasters uniquely powerful in shaping public opinion and civic engagement.
Allowing Nexstar and Tegna to merge would give a single conglomerate extraordinary influence over community-level narratives, political coverage, and what information Americans receive about government policies, elections, and world events.
ZOA warns that this merger would further diminish the diversity of perspectives available to the American public.
"Democracy thrives when citizens hear many voices," Klein added. "But if one corporation gains the ability to dictate news content across dozens of states, those voices risk becoming uniform and slanted.
"This is particularly dangerous when national networks already display troubling biases, especially regarding Israel, the Middle East, and issues affecting the Jewish community.
"ZOA stands firmly against any consolidation that could amplify these biases."
Beyond the severe implications for media plurality, ZOA also warns of significant economic harm to American consumers. Industry analysts predict that the merger would lead to substantial increases in retransmission fees — the payments that cable and satellite providers must make to broadcasters to carry local channels.
These higher fees are inevitably passed on to subscribers in the form of higher monthly bills.
"Higher cable and satellite bills are the last thing working families need in this economy," Klein said.
Klein noted that President Ronald Reagan created the TV ownership cap to protect against national media control and Congress deliberately imposed the 39% ownership cap to preserve localism.
Local communities deserve news coverage that reflects local priorities rather than the political and economic interests of a single national corporate owner.
"The FCC was created to protect local TV licenses, not to guarantee mega-corporations massive profits through consolidation," Klein said.
ZOA urges federal officials to reaffirm their commitment to a competitive, vibrant, and ideologically diverse media landscape. This requires strict adherence to congressional limits and robust antitrust enforcement by the DOJ and FCC.
The ZOA respectfully calls on:
– Trump to publicly oppose the merger and support media diversity by reaffirming his support for the 39% cap.
– Congress to demand enforcement of the 39% ownership cap and conduct hearings on the dangers of excessive broadcast consolidation.
– The FCC to reject any waiver, reinterpretation, or circumvention of statutory ownership limits.
– The DOJ to scrutinize the merger's antitrust implications and block any transaction that threatens fair competition and consumer welfare.
"ZOA stands for truth, fairness, and the protection of democratic values," Klein said.
"This merger endangers all three. America must not allow a single corporation to gain such sweeping control of the news that shapes our national conversation. For the sake of our democracy, this merger must be stopped."
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