AG Rayfield Asks Court to Step in as Nexstar & Tegna Appear to Violate Court Order

Months after winning a key victory pausing the Nexstar / Tegna media merger, Attorney General Dan Rayfield is asking a federal court to step in again, arguing that Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. appear to be ignoring a key part of the court order.

Earlier this year, AG Rayfield and a bipartisan coalition of 13 attorneys general sued to block the companies' merger and won a court order requiring Nexstar and Tegna to stay independent while the case moves forward. In today's motion, the coalition asked the court to clarify that current and recent Nexstar personnel may not sit on Tegna's Board of Directors. (PDF) Such board composition enables Nexstar to improperly control Tegna, in violation of the court order that the companies operate independently while the lawsuit proceeds.

"We stepped in to stop this merger because it would mean higher costs and fewer choices for Oregon consumers," said Attorney General Rayfield. "Given what this proposed deal would mean for the local media markets, Oregonians deserve transparency and accountability. Nexstar and Tegna need to follow the court order-it's not a suggestion."

In Oregon, Nexstar owns Portland's KOIN 6, while Tegna owns KGW - two stations that have long run separate, competing newsrooms. A full merger would put both under single corporate control, reducing Oregonians' access to independent local coverage and competing perspectives on stories that matter to their communities.

A Nexstar/Tegna merger would create the largest broadcast station group in the United States, put more broadcast programming in the hands of fewer people, cut local jobs, increase cable bills, and significantly impact the delivery of news and other media content to Americans nationwide.

If allowed to proceed, this multibillion-dollar deal would combine the nation's largest and third-largest television-station conglomerates, creating a titan covering 80% of U.S. television households. Alarmingly, in the weeks leading up to the merger's closing, reports detailed Nexstar's firing of long-standing journalists in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.