Mix of production and distribution hurts news
It is sad that the only outwardly opposing voice to the merger of NBC Universal and Comcast is former comic and current senator from Minnesota, Al Franken [“Congress should nix Comcast/NBC merger,” editorial, Opinion, Feb. 10]. While he holds little sway with Congress — being so new — Franken’s message should resonate with all of us: Large media conglomerates that merge with other same-sized moguls should cause us deep concern.
To have such a controlling interest in producing news and entertainment provides the opportunity to slant how the news is covered and reported. All the promises to remain fair and unbiased by those controlling interests is about as worthless as bankers’ promises to do no harm to the nation’s economy.
The power to do ill will be there if the merger of NBC and Comcast is allowed — and whether it’s done remains to be seen. But giving the owners the power to merge is akin to giving the Taliban controlling interest in Congress.
—Bill Wippel, Normandy Park