美国国家公共电台 NPR DOJ Set To Block AT&T Takeover Of Time Warner

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The Justice Department has told AT&T it will block AT&T's takeover of Time Warner unless the company sells off its TV properties, including CNN. President Trump¹ of course is no fan of CNN. Here's what he said about CNN on a recent trip to Poland.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They have been fake news for a long time. They've been covering me in a very dishonest way.

MCEVERS: And now there are questions about the role, if any, President Trump played in the Justice Department's decision. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik is with us now from New York City. And David, what exactly does the government say are its objections to this AT&T-Time Warner deal?

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE²: Well, the government hasn't said anything publicly. It said today that it, you know, reviews such things privately³ and won't talk about it. But privately, it has spoken with AT&T executives and said that they'll have to either sell off Turner Broadcasting, which is the television division of Time Warner that includes CNN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network. I don't think there's too much concern about how many reruns they show of "Law & Order" but that they have to spin that off, or they have to sell off AT&T's satellite TV division, DirecTV. Both of these are major components⁴ of each of these two companies part of the - that are part of the merger⁵.

MCEVERS: I mean, these are two huge companies - right? - one telecommunications platform. The other creates the content that people consume on these platforms. I mean, why wouldn't the government object to such a corporate⁶ consolidation⁷?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, the government typically has great concerns about what's called horizontal integration⁸ - that is, two companies that do business in the same field. So US Air and United talked about merging⁹, and that was blocked a little over a decade ago because it was too close. There was too much consolidation. In this instance, you've got something called horizontal integration. They might be - excuse me - vertical¹⁰ integration.

These companies might be involved in related fields, but they don't have any real areas of direct competition. And for about four decades - I talked to an expert - media executives - for four decades, basically the federal government has been hands-off. Republican administrations are usually exceptionally hands-off about such mergers¹¹. This really comes as a reversal of government policy.

MCEVERS: Well, since CNN, as we said, has been central to the discussion of this deal ever since the merger was proposed, what is the role of CNN here?

FOLKENFLIK: It's very hard to know, you know? There are people who are concerned about great consolidation in media generally. And yet the question of the motivations of the government are real as they have not yet set them out, the question of whether President Trump, who's shown himself, has even said publicly that when he took office, he thought he directly controlled the Justice Department, which typically operates with a strong degree of autonomy.

And obviously he's been willing to sort of publicly issue directives to the Justice Department about how he wants certain investigations¹² of his own campaign's conduct to be investigated. It's hard to totally credit the idea that he wouldn't in some ways be involved here. But we don't know. And you know, his anger at CNN is palpable. He talks about it a lot. But we don't know what role that played.

MCEVERS: So what could happen next?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, this looks very much likely to be headed to court. The - Randall Stephenson, the CEO and chairman of AT&T, has said today he has no intentions of spinning off or selling off CNN to get approval of this deal, which is what the regulators, the Justice Department say would be required.

So what we're going to have to see if this goes forward is a challenge in court. And you're going to see government antitrust regulators have to lay out what their legal objections are on paper to this, you know, absent some sort of concrete reasons that just haven't been made public and that we don't know yet. The questions of government political interference, particularly by President Trump himself, loom¹³ very large.

MCEVERS: That's NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik from New York. Thanks so much.

FOLKENFLIK: You bet.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

8 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

9 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

10 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

11 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

13 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。