This is ridiculous to allow nonapproved buyers. It seems to be totally unregulated.

Are you actually suggesting that the government should be able to regulate who owns a newspaper?

Words are dangerous in the wrong hands.

"Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."

Unlike the 2A, there isn't any disagreement about phrasing.

If your comment really was serious, you really need to take a refresher course in civics.

This can really be seen as regulating broadcasters, not newspapers, given that broadcasting is not a right, but a government-regulated license.

Publishing remains an unfettered right. Otherwise, the FCC rule would have been struck down as unconstitutional a long time ago.

Am I taking crazy pills?

You ARE taking crazy pills.

Don't they teach civics in school anymore?
That's exactly what the 1A protects, speech free of govt censorship.

The Alien and Sedition Act:
"The U.S. Sedition Act first outlawed conspiracies "to oppose any measure or measures of the government." Going further, the act made it illegal for anyone to express "any false, scandalous and malicious writing" against Congress or the president."
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-19-4-b-the-alien-and-sedition-acts-defining-american-freedom.html

Not that I'm a big fan of the Act by any stretch. And I don't think that provision has been in force since 1801.

The government should NOT be able to "vet who is allowed to own a paper" but it should be able to force public disclosure of the ownership. And no one corporation, person, or group of people (such as people on the boards) should be able to own more than a certain percentage of the media in and area.

The government should NOT be in the business of approving buyers but there should be some regulation, mostly to force transparency and to keep the media from being completely controlled by one person or group.

Watch for some interesting free advertising to come. Remember Reid is not running for another term. And the present Gov is termed out. And after a 800 million break for the Casino's,the public is a little pissed.

A $47 million fine for money laundering? Chicken feed for Sinaloa Sheldon.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/28/sheldon-adelson-pays-out-to-the-u-s-government.html

This could be YUGE since S.S. is a big-time Repulsican kingmaker.

Adelson already owns the largest daily newspaper in Israel and when the Las Vegas Review purchase was announced, it was stated that it was purchased by someone with newspaper experience.

harry IS nevada. he should know.

"Reid, who has battled furiously over many decades with the Review-Journal's conservative-libertarian editorial page..."

Heck, once you get past the really big ones like NYT, WaPo, LAT, ChiTr, etc., I'll bet more than two-thirds of today's fishwrap publications are "conservative libertarian."