'The Hill' Guild Blasts Reported Nexstar Bargain With Truth Social
Workers at the Nexstar-owned newspaper The Hill condemned the broadcaster over a Semafor report that Nexstar fired a reporter to appease the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). “The Hill sacrificed one of our members to satisfy" President Donald Trump, said a Monday release from The Hill Guild, a workers organization made up of newsroom staff from the paper. “To say we are disappointed is an understatement.”
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Semafor reported that in December 2023, Nexstar was dropped from a Truth Social lawsuit against 20 media companies concerning widespread misreporting of the social media platform’s earnings. TMTG told the court it was voluntarily dismissing its claims against Nexstar because the two companies reached a settlement. Days later, the reporter who covered the Truth Social story for The Hill was fired, Semafor said. Semafor reported that Nexstar had agreed to fire the reporter in exchange for being dropped from the case. Nexstar declined to provide a comment to Communications Daily on the matter, but Semafor reported that the broadcaster denied that the bargain had occurred. TMTG didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Nexstar CEO Perry Sook has been vocal about his hopes for widespread ownership deregulation from the FCC under Trump, who is the majority owner of TMTG (see 2412100064). The Semafor story also discussed planned layoffs at The Hill and Nexstar, which were again denounced by the staff. “A multibillion dollar company throwing one of its employees away is indefensible,” The Hill Guild said. “We strongly condemn The Hill and Nexstar management’s pursuit of layoffs, which would affect roughly 30 percent of our staff.”
Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America, offered support as well. "The entire NewsGuild-CWA stands with our members at The Hill who deserve a newsroom that is nonpartisan and independent," he said. "Journalists at The Hill also deserve a fair contract and no layoffs, especially when the owner is making record profits."