A Republican state senator bought a group of radio stations. Now, they play Fox News.

[erronis]

https://vtdigger.org/2025/09/03/a-republican-state-senator-bought-a-group-of-radio-stations-now-they-play-fox-news/
Shaun Robinson

“It’s a great nation,” said Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex. “I want a news source that’s going to report and reflect (that) accurately.”

Courtney Cutting has listened to the local radio stations around her hometown of St. Johnsbury for as long as she can remember. Her listening hit a stride two summers ago, she said, when flood damage shuttered the diner she worked at, putting her out of a job.

But last month, Cutting noticed a change on the airwaves. The newscasts that her favorite station — WMTK “The Notch” — played at the top of the hour, and which she relied on for national and international news, sounded different.

“When it would come on, I would turn up the radio to be like, ‘What am I hearing?’ Cutting said in an interview. “And then that’s when I got the end tagline, which is, ‘America’s listening to Fox News.’”

. . .

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I'd like to see someone take FOX to court to make it stop calling itself "news"

when it isn't news; it's entertainment.

In 1923, Congress passed a federal law that prohibited "filled milk" from being sold as unadulterated milk*. It ended up in SCOTUS in 1938, called United States v. Carolene Products Company. And filled milk could no longer be sold as "milk".


* Filled milk is any milk product, such as skim milk, that has had its natural milk fat replaced with non-dairy fats like vegetable oils, such as coconut or palm oil. This is typically done to reduce costs while maintaining the milk-like texture, appearance, and functionality of real dairy products.

Back to my contention. If what FOX claims is news when it really is commentary and not journalism, the channel and stations shouldn't be allowed to call it "news".

[rsdsharp]

2. A hundred years ago, when I was in radio, we had the Rule of Sevens.

No one person, or entity, could own more than 7 AM, 7 FM and 7 TV stations, of which nor more than 5 could be VHF. There was also the Duopoly Rule, which prohibited anyone from owning more than 1 AM, 1 FM and 1 TV station in a market. We also still had the Fairness Doctrine.

Bork, Scalia and Saint Ronnie killed the Fairness Doctrine, and the Telecommunication Act of 1996 killed the Rule of Sevens and Duopoly.

And it’s led to this crap.