Standard Pushes Back on Union Misrepresentation Accusations
Standard General “has no intention, and has not had any intention, of reducing news or news staff” at Tegna stations after its proposed buy of the company, said Standard in a call with the FCC Media Bureau Thursday, according to…
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an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 22-162 responding to an earlier filing from the Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild and the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians sectors (see: 2209220039). The union filing accused Standard of misrepresenting its intentions on staffing in filings submitted to the FCC, but Standard said the unions’ accusation “appeared to be based on a misunderstanding of the documents.” In mid-2021, Standard prepared estimates of Tegna’s future operating costs compared to the company’s current ones, and the future projections incorporated staff changes Tegna was then already planning to implement, Standard said. “Standard General understands that in the time since those meetings, TEGNA has implemented the staffing changes that were reflected in those projections, and Standard General does not intend to reduce station-level staffing following the Transaction,” the filing said. In a separate meeting with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, Standard General also said it has "no plans or interest in jointly negotiating retransmission consent with Apollo, which is merely one of seventeen (non-attributable) entities providing financing for Standard General’s acquisition of TEGNA," said another filing.