NEW YORK—Standard General L.P. has responded to attacks made by opponents of its proposed acquisition of Tegna Inc. in filings to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by raising serious concerns about “sexist and racially charged ad hominem attacks.”
“Deb McDermott [who will lead Tegna if the deal is approved] and I have a proven track record of enhancing stations’ service to their local communities,” said Soo Kim, Founding Partner of Standard General in a statement. “As a woman and a minority, respectively, we may well have had to work twice as hard as most to get to where we are in the media industry. We will bring decades of experience and perspectives to the ownership and leadership of Tegna, an important media company.”
“We are extremely concerned by the manner in which Jon Schleuss, David Goodfriend and Andrew Schwartzman of the NewsGuild continue to ignore the facts of this deal, and more troubling are their sexist and racially charged ad hominem attacks,” he continued.
Standard General said that these opponents have claimed:
- Soo Kim’s investment represents an "anonymous foreign investment in American newsrooms."
- This deal should be especially scrutinized because of “China(‘s) increased tensions in the Taiwan Strait.”
- Soo Kim’s transaction “does not promote ownership diversity as it is understood by the public interest and civil rights community, and by commission policy.”
- “Mr. Kim is not barred by his race from becoming a successful entrepreneur” while “Ms. McDermott is not barred by her gender to be selected to run a large corporation.”
“To be clear, I am ethnically Korean,” Soo Kim said. “And I am a proud American citizen. These three men are attempting to define what constitutes a minority or what is the right kind of diversity—this is offensive and inappropriate. And it is beyond the pale for Schleuss, Goodfriend, and Schwartzman to use my ethnicity to postulate theories of my being an agent of foreign ownership. These fact-free statements are careless given that even a cursory inspection of the documents we have provided would show that I am currently the attributable owner of multiple radio and television stations today.
“Notably, the NewsGuild did not comment on other recent Broadcasting deals such as the Scripps acquisition of ION or the Gray acquisitions of Meredith or Quincy – all deals that were not as straight-forward as ours given that they resulted in tremendous consolidation and required station divestitures to address regulatory/DOJ concerns,” he continued. “Fortunately, Deb and I are not alone. We have received letters of support from legislators including the Chairs of the Black Caucus for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina; civil rights groups including the Arc of Justice and the NAACP Atlanta; minority media groups like the National Association of Hispanic Publications; and many others.”
“We are confident that our applications are in order, our deal complies with all regulations, and we have been happy to answer forthright any and all questions,” he said. “In full transparency, we have submitted 3 million documents and over 12 million pages of records and have nothing but respect for the regulatory process. We will continue to work collaboratively with FCC staff in their review of the facts of the proposed transaction. We are confident that the public statements from these three men will be seen for what they are—sentiments that have no place in America today.”
The company also cited a long list of supporters that include:
- Senator Tonya P. Anderson - Chair of Georgia Legislative Black Caucus; Georgia Senate
- Representative Patricia M. Henegan - Chair of South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus; South Carolina General Assembly
- Representative Kelly M. Alexander Jr. - Chair of North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus; North Carolina General Assembly
- Representative Terry Brown Jr. – North Carolina House District 92
- Joyce Dickerson, Former Chair, FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee
- Stephen L. Gilchrist, Chairman of the South Carolina African-American Chamber of Commerce
- Reverend Kirsten John Foy - Arc of Justice
- Richard Rose - President of NAACP Atlanta
- NAHP (National Association of Hispanic Publications)
- Tower of Babel (Frank Washington)
- Michael R Bailey Jr. – The Minority Eye
- Estrella Media
- Council for Korean Americans
- National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship
- AWT Organization (Advocating for Women in Tech)
- Seattle Local 46
- American Consumer Institute
- Jay Huizenga – KELOLAND Media Group
