“CNN really stepped in it this time. I am sure their CEO will be pleased. Haha!”
ATT is in the process of buying Time Warner, CNN’s owner. ATT is a highly regulated business - its land and wireless telephone business is overseen by the FCC and to some degree state and local authorities when it wants to build or reconfigure infrastructure. It purchases wireless spectrum from the federal government. The Justice Department reviews its acquisitions. Many of the federal regulators have been or will be appointed by President Trump.
There have been press reports that ATT is very unhappy with CNN President Jeff Zucker’s conduct in the ongoing war between CNN and President Trump. ATT may fire Zucker or neutralize him by promoting him to a corporate executive job where he has no operational control over CNN. It is also possible ATT will divest CNN after the acquisition. In any event the ongoing war between Zucker and Trump is not healthy for ATT’s business.
While the elimination of Zucker, and toning down of CNN, may give conservatives and Donald Trump a temporary reason to celebrate, long term the acquisition of a major news network by a multinational telecommunications giant is unhealthy for 1st amendment freedom of speech and the press. The major news networks and newspapers are increasingly controlled by multinational corporations and billionaires. These corporations, and wealthy investors are part of the network of crony capitalism and big money that is killing representative government in this country.
Daily we see evidence where Congress, and government bureaucrats, represent the wealthy and corporate interests who finance their campaigns instead of the will of the people who voted them into office. Multinational corporations and wealthy billionaires support the globalist agenda (world government, open borders, deficit spending, regulation, offshoring of US jobs, and restrictions on individual freedom). The concentration of economic power is destroying the American economy and reducing liberty. The merger of ATT and Time Warner will only lead to more concentration of power and less freedom in the long run.
——These corporations, and wealthy investors are part of the network of crony capitalism and big money that is killing representative government in this country.——
It has always been so and will continue to be so.
I hope the merger is not allowed.
AT&T will simply be too big. Remember they just bought out Direct TV.
The CEO of AT&T is a major democRAT donor. He loves CNN simply because they hate Trump.
If AT&T has a lick of sense the will withdraw the offer, avoid being sucked into a billion dollar lawsuit, the attendant bad publicity, and buy up the smoldering remains for mils on the dollar.
Yes, I agree. Good analysis. I think divestiture would be the best move for AT&T. They don't need the hassles. The wireless phone service business is very competitive now. Verizon and AT&T don't make the money they used to, and are trying to divest toward content providers like Comcast.
Excellent Bump!
Excellent observations. In the last two years I have become convinced that this concentration of economic power in the hands of people who mostly live in the North East was a consequence of the lead up to the Civil War.