Readers can challenge Media Mergers

According to the San Fransisco Chronicle.

Clint Reilly can go to trial in a lawsuit opposing a newspaper chain's acquisitions of the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, saying readers have the right to challenge media mergers under antitrust laws.

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U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said federal law recognizes the public's concern in maintaining competition and diversity in the news media. She noted that a separate federal law, the Newspaper Preservation Act, allows a financially troubled paper to combine business operations with a rival paper as long as they keep their editorial departments independent.

That law shows that "Congress values the existence of separate sources of newspaper content in a community, and that loss of separate sources injures consumers," Illston wrote.