So far this year, 223 local TV stations have changed hands. This is the biggest wave of media consolidation ever — and it's all happening in small and mid-level markets, involving companies most people have never heard of.

In an Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun, Free Press Media Manager Jenn Topper and Research Director S. Derek Turner write about the shady tactics companies like the Sinclair Broadcast Group have used to grow their empires.

These corporations are using outsourcing agreements and shell companies to skirt the Federal Communications Commission's ownership rules and create media fiefdoms in markets all over the country.

It's time for the FCC to acknowledge that broadcasters like Sinclair are violating its rules — and to step in to promote greater competition and diversity in the local TV market. Fake companies shouldn't get to hold real licenses to the public's airwaves.

Read the full Op-Ed here.