You Can’t Deregulate Your Way To Localism
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr likes to talk a big game about “localism.” He frequently argues that American communities need more locally relevant news, local stories, and programming that reflects the people and places a station is licensed to serve. On this point, he’s absolutely right: authentic local content is vital to a functioning democracy and healthy civic life.
But Carr’s preferred method to get there — loosening the FCC’s rules on media ownership — doesn’t just miss the mark. It actively undermines the very goal he claims to champion.
Deregulation Isn’t The Path To Better Local TV
By pushing for deregulation that would allow more concentrated ownership of local broadcast stations, Carr is accelerating a trend that has already weakened local programming for decades. This isn’t a theoretical outcome — it’s an observable one. Big broadcast groups are not purchasing stations because they believe in the mission of local journalism or civic storytelling. They are doing it for the efficiencies that come with consolidation: operational scale, streamlined staffing, reduced overhead.
The consequences are clear. Fewer reporters are assigned to local beats. Newsrooms are merged or shuttered. Weather, traffic, and sports — once the pillars of local coverage — are increasingly automated or outsourced. The business rationale is simple: it’s far cheaper to centralize production and syndicate content across dozens or even hundreds of stations than to invest in unique, local programming in each market. The result is a broadcast landscape that looks local on the surface, but increasingly lacks meaningful connection to the communities being served.
A Broken Promise Since 1996
This erosion of localism didn’t begin yesterday. The 1996 Telecommunications Act was the inflection point that allowed station groups to expand aggressively, ushering in an era of mega-broadcasters - like Sinclair, Nexstar, and Gray - and a steady erosion of truly local programming. News segments beamed in from centralized hubs. Anchors appearing in multiple cities without ever setting foot in the markets they cover. Community voices pushed out by templated content stamped across dozens of stations at once.
This is the blueprint Carr wants to double down on — despite the overwhelming evidence that it fails the test of actual localism. Community-specific journalism doesn’t scale well. It requires dedicated local teams who understand their neighborhoods, attend town halls, report from the ground, and build relationships with local leaders. And that kind of granular reporting — the kind that helps communities hold power to account — is precisely what gets lost when stations become mere endpoints of a national portfolio.
Deregulation Rewards Investors — Not Viewers Or Citizens
Carr argues that loosening ownership restrictions will allow broadcasters to thrive and reinvest in better local content. But this overlooks a fundamental truth: when scale becomes the business imperative, reinvestment rarely flows to local newsrooms. It flows to shareholder returns, executive salaries, and corporate buybacks. The efficiencies created by consolidation are not used to bolster civic journalism — they’re used to improve margins.
Consider how centralized weather reports have replaced local meteorologists, or how cosplay news advertorial shows fill time slots once held by community-focused public affairs programming. The logic behind these moves isn’t about serving viewers better — it’s about reducing headcount and overhead. Even when local branding remains intact, the substance beneath it is diluted. A station may retain its familiar call letters, but the soul of local storytelling — depth, relevance, and proximity — has often been stripped away.
A Smarter Policy Path To Localism Is Still Possible
If Commissioner Carr truly believes in the importance of localism, then he should stop treating it as deregulatory wishful thinking and start advocating for policies that directly support it. There are numerous ways to foster stronger local media ecosystems without gutting ownership limits. The FCC could modernize and enforce public interest obligations, particularly for license renewals. It could offer financial or regulatory incentives for stations that commit to original, locally produced programming. It could expand initiatives that fund journalism in underserved, rural and tribal communities — where local news deserts are rapidly expanding.
Instead of relying on outdated, trickle-down market assumptions about media consolidation, the Commission could adopt an intentional, proactive posture that recognizes local journalism as essential civic infrastructure — just like roads, schools, and emergency services.
The Real Choice: Scaled Efficiencies Or Genuine Localism
Broadcast television remains one of the few mass-reaching platforms still capable of delivering information to wide and diverse audiences. It cuts across income levels and broadband gaps. It carries a legacy of trust, especially among older and rural Americans. But that promise erodes quickly when operational decisions are increasingly made from centralized hubs far removed from the communities they impact.
There is an unavoidable contradiction in Carr’s position: you cannot simultaneously promote concentrated media ownership and expect hyper-local content to flourish. One undermines the other. Scale and centralization are inherently at odds with the messy, time-intensive, boots-on-the-ground reporting that true localism demands.
Until the FCC confronts this fundamental contradiction — and begins treating local media not as a matter of business efficiency, but as a public good — its talk of “localism” will ring hollow. Another round of deregulation won’t serve American communities well. What they need, instead, is real investment, clear accountability, and more forward-looking policy that values journalism as more than just a line item on a corporate ledger.
Local News To Peruse
Nexstar Again Tops Station Groups As Consolidation Prospects Grow - Harry Jessell [TVNewsCheck]
NAB: Ownership Caps Have Created A ‘True Emergency For TV Broadcasters’ - George Winslow [TVTech]
Pay TV Groups Oppose Lifting Broadcast Ownership Caps - George Winslow [TVTech]
Free State Foundation Says Loper Bright A Barrier To Lifting 39% TV Cap - Ted Hearn [Policyband]
Fox O&O Stations Demand Regulatory Parity From Carr’s FCC - Ted Hearn [Policyband]
These Public Radio Stations Have Built Online Audiences That’ll Help Them Survive Federal Cuts - Joshua Benton [NiemanLab]
