An editorial in the Seattle Times yesterday blasted the Federal Communications Commission for failing to stop the “alarming” pace of ongoing media consolidation (“Media consolidation decimates KOMO 4“).

Lax FCC enforcement makes a mockery of regulatory intent to preserve and promote competition, localism and diversity of viewpoints in local TV news. Case in point: Sinclair Broadcast Group’s ownership of KOMO 4.

Here’s how they describe Sinclair’s damaging entry into their market.

Sinclair reportedly laid off nearly 20 employees after taking over Fisher Communications’ flagship station KOMO 4 in August. Another round of pink slips followed last week at Portland’s KATU.

Welcome to the Northwest, Sinclair. Decimating the soul of this city’s last locally owned commercial TV station is a heck of an introduction.

Those editors, satellite-truck operators, writers and producers are vital to keeping our community informed via the people’s airwaves, which stations are entrusted with to balance profit and public interest.

Broadcasters enjoyed record sales in 2012 from political advertisements. Instead of investing in what it has, Sinclair is building an empire.

The editorial points to a Wall Street Journal story published last week calling attention to so-called “sidecar” deals that media corporations are using to get around FCC ownership rules. This summary is from the WSJ’s “Media Journal” blog.

SIDECARS: Amid a frenzy of M&A activity around local TV station groups, WSJ looks at how Sinclair and other broadcasters are using controversial “sidecar” agreements that allow broadcasters to run far more stations than they would be allowed to own directly. In Columbus, for instance, Sinclair Broadcast GroupSBGI -1.16% manages several stations in one building, and collects most of the revenue from all three. But it only owns one of them — the other are controlled by bankers close to its chief executive, and one was controlled by his mother until last year. Critics say broadcasters are using sidecars as loopholes that let them violate the spirit of FCC ownership that encourage diversity and localism.

According to the WSJ story:

Opponents of media consolidation say broadcasters use sidecar agreements as loopholes that let them violate the spirit of FCC ownership rules, which the agency says promote “competition, localism and diversity.”

When one owner manages multiple stations in a market, they say, it reduces local-news quality and variety, and drives up pay-TV bills.

The FCC allowed these agreements to help struggling stations reduce costs, not to help companies gain turf, says former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, a consolidation critic. “This is a shell game and an end run around the media-ownership rules.”

Sounds very familiar to anyone who’s followed the course of broadcast consolidation here in Hawaii!