The Daily Populous

The Sinclair Horrorshow Is the Result of Decades of Failing to Take Media Consolidation Worries Seriously

For decades, consumer advocates and media watchdogs have warned about the dangers of media consolidation and the nation’s obsession with often-mindless merger mania.

Sinclair’s planned $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune would give it ownership of more than 230 broadcast stations, reaching 72 percent of the American public.

Democrats argue the merger will allow a broadcaster with a tendency toward hyperbole to further mislead the American public.

In December, Pai’s FCC voted to eliminate a cap that prevents any one broadcaster from reaching more than 39% of the nation.

All of the rules have been used for decades to protect local news outlets and regional journalism from monopoly harm.

“Every element of our media policy is custom-built for the business plan of Sinclair Broadcasting,” Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told The Daily Beast last month.

We’re burning down the values of media policy in this agency in order to service this company.”. »

Oklahoma governor compares teachers to 'a teenage kid that wants a better car'

Authored by cnn.com

(CNN) Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a measure giving teachers a $6,100 pay raise and then compared their demand for more education funding to "a teenage kid that wants a better car.".

"But it's like kind of having a teenage kid that wants a better car.".

But the state teachers union said the deal fell short and teachers walked out of the classroom on Monday. »

Arctic Monkeys Announce New Album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Authored by pitchfork.com

Arctic Monkeys have announced their new album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

Back in January, Arctic Monkeys announced a tour of international festivals, followed last month by more dates including a North American run. »

Citing 'Don't Be Evil' Motto, 3,000+ Google Employees Demand Company End Work on Pentagon Drone Project

Authored by commondreams.org

More than 3,000 Google employees have signed a letter that's circulating in the company demanding that the tech giant end its involvement in Project Maven, a Pentagon program that could be used to develop drone technology.

"By entering into this contract, Google will join the ranks of companies like Palantir, Raytheon, and General Dynamics," wrote the employees, who include senior engineers.

"The argument that other firms, like Microsoft and Amazon, are also participating doesn't make this any less risky for Google. »

Computer system transcribes words users “speak silently”

Authored by news.mit.edu

MIT researchers have developed a computer interface that can transcribe words that the user verbalizes internally but does not actually speak aloud.

The researchers describe their device in a paper they presented at the Association for Computing Machinery’s ACM Intelligent User Interface conference.

Could he do this sort of silent speech and then have a synthesizer that would speak the words? »