As we start 2026, UCC Media Justice continues its long legacy of ensuring that local TV broadcasters serve their communities by joining with our allies to oppose the Nexstar/TEGNA merger.
At a time when local and reliable sources of news and information are more important — and more scarce — than ever, the need to block massive media mergers is more urgent.
In a chaotic world where children are snatched from streets, ICE moves with impunity, and Black journalists are arrested for reporting the news, local journalism should be the critical infrastructure that helps our communities understand these events and holds authority to account.
We cannot hold leaders responsible if we don’t know what happens at city council meetings or which local agencies have secret agreements with federal law enforcement. Did your elected members of Congress vote for or against the President’s agenda? Did they speak out when Alex Pretti or Renee Good was shot? How about Silverio Villegas González or Keith Porter Jr?
The same forces that are unhinging government actions from the law are working to undermine the few remaining rules, focusing local TV broadcasters on the only people that really matter: the people in the towns and cities that they serve. The Trump administration is likely to greenlight one of the biggest proposed mergers in recent history in violation of current law.
The proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA by Nexstar would be another step toward a fully unaccountable, remote news operation disconnected from the people it serves. If this merger is approved, the combined entity would reach 80% of American homes, far exceeding a 39% cap set by Congress. This means the merger is illegal in 17 local markets nationwide.
It also violates existing FCC rules in 23 local markets. A post-merger Nexstar would control half or more of the commercial stations airing English-language news in numerous markets, and as many as four local TV stations in some markets.
We have already seen the dangers of this consolidated power in the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! following Nexstar’s announcement to preempt the show — a clear sign of editorial capitulation to political pressure. We might even see the FCC Chairman tell his staff to do his bidding and violate the law to approve this merger without a full FCC vote.
There is something even more insidious at work: when massive corporate entities with specific ideological agendas consolidate local stations, they attract a specific audience. When viewers see news that only reinforces their existing biases — or fails to offer a compassionate, diverse perspective — it creates a dangerous echo chamber.
Meanwhile, those seeking a more caring and nuanced understanding of the world are driven away from local news and civic engagement altogether. This is particularly critical because political campaigns still rely heavily on local TV. Corporate media is amassing audiences for political advertising, which helps dictate the outcome of our elections.
Those TV stations depend financially on the regular cycle of political advertising, and they know it. Your local TV station owner makes a huge difference in our national political life. The difference between two fully functional, independently owned TV stations in a single city, and the merging of those two shops means we are all so much less likely to see anything different, challenging or constructive in our regular newsfeed.
UCC Media Justice is refusing to be shut out. Just as Everett Parker established the public’s right to be heard in the 1960s, we are making the legal argument today that the FCC must listen to the people. We have filed formal declarations from UCC members across the country to show how this merger hurts them at home.
The United Church of Christ believes God calls the church to speak truth to power and care for the afflicted. Our mission of anti-racism, LGBTQ inclusion, and environmental stewardship is directly impaired when newsrooms shrink.
Through our filings and advocacy, we are urging the FCC and Congress to uphold the law and act to prevent the first domino — in what will certainly be only the first of many mergers — and protect the diversity of our local media.
Please sustain this vital work with a gift of any amount to UCC Media Justice today.