Sinclair is bringing Trump's war on the media to their stations

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Earlier this month, CNN’s Brian Stelter broke the news that Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner or operator of nearly 200 television stations in the U.S., would be forcing its news anchors to record a promo about “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country.” The script, which parrots Donald Trump’s oft-declarations of developments negative to his presidency as “fake news,” brought upheaval to newsrooms already dismayed with Sinclair’s consistent interference to bring right-wing propaganda to local television broadcasts.

You might remember Sinclair from its having been featured on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight last year, or from its requiring in 2004 of affiliates to air anti-John Kerry propaganda, or perhaps because it’s your own local affiliate running inflammatory “Terrorism Alerts” or required editorials from former Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, he of the famed Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that failed to mention Jewish people. (Sinclair also owns Ring of Honor wrestling, Tennis magazine, and the Tennis Channel.)

The net result of the company’s current mandate is dozens upon dozens of local news anchors looking like hostages in proof-of-life videos, trying their hardest to spit out words attacking the industry they’d chosen as a life vocation.

Not that any of it matters to Sinclair, which, with the help of a friendly federal government, is about to swallow up another 40 television stations—increasing its reach and its lead over competitors like Hearst and Scripps. The script, as transcribed by ThinkProgress based on the KOMO (Seattle) version, reads:

Hi, I’m(A) ____________, and I’m (B) _________________…

(B) Our greatest responsibility is to serve our Northwest communities. We are extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that KOMO News produces.

(A) But we’re concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country. The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media.

(B) More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories… stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first.

(A) Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control ‘exactly what people think’…This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.

(B) At KOMO it’s our responsibility to pursue and report the truth. We understand Truth is neither politically ‘left nor right.’ Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever.

(A) But we are human and sometimes our reporting might fall short. If you believe our coverage is unfair please reach out to us by going to KOMOnews.com and clicking on CONTENT CONCERNS. We value your comments. We will respond back to you.

(B) We work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced and factual… We consider it our honor, our privilege to responsibly deliver the news every day.

(A) Thank you for watching and we appreciate your feedback.

For a list of stations owned or operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, check here. If you’re a Sinclair employee who has something to say—anonymity guaranteed on request—let me know or use our anonymous SecureDrop.
https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/how-a ... 1824233490
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Sinclair is bringing Trump's war on the media to their stations

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Expect SINclair to take over even more broadcast stations and The Great Orange Beloved Leader will let them because he is beloved by Sinclair.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, the unabashedly pro-Trump TV company with nearly 200 stations nationwide, is taking a beating recently for forcing its anchors around the country to read a script railing against “fake stories” and journalists who “use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda.” (Watch this chilling video of Sinclair anchors reading the script on air.)

On Monday, President Trump rushed to Sinclair’s defense in his morning blitz of tweets: “So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.”


No media company—not even Fox News—has done more to ingratiate itself to the Trump administration than Sinclair.

After Trump’s election, Politico reported on comments made by Jared Kushner that Trump’s campaign had cut a deal with Sinclair for more favorable coverage. (Sinclair denied this.) Sinclair soon hired Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump White House aide, to be the company’s lead political analyst. Epshteyn’s daily commentaries, “Bottom Line with Boris, were described by the Baltimore Sun’s longtime TV critic “as close to classic propaganda as anything I have seen in broadcast television in the last 30 years.” Sinclair has also enlisted former Trump White House aide Sebastian Gorka as a commentator and touted Trump’s recent tax bill.

Nor is this the first time Sinclair has used its platform to parrot the president’s favorite attack on the media. Last year, Scott Livingston, a Sinclair executive for news programming, went on the air and railed against news outlets pushing “fake news.”

Trump, in turn, has been good to Sinclair. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission has pushed through a series of deregulatory actions that have paved the way for Sinclair’s growth and domination of the local news business. The FCC is currently weighing a merger that would let Sinclair acquire most of rival Tribune Media’s stations. If approved, the merger would extend Sinclair’s reach into as many as three-quarters of US households. It’s hard to see Trump objecting to the deal if his pro-Sinclair tweet is any indication.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/20 ... clair-cnn/

If Turnip had his way Sinclair and Fox would be the only stations broadcasting any propaganda news.

Sinclair Broadcastingf the preferred news stations of Reptillians and idiots. Oops, I’m being redundant.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Sinclair is bringing Trump's war on the media to their stations

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No media company—not even Fox News—has done more to ingratiate itself to the Trump administration than Sinclair.
Scary!

Sinclair is still trying to buy Tribune Media Co and the Orange Bimbo's FCC and DOJ could approve it, so it would be up to the courts to block it.
Sinclair owns or operates 193 TV stations, and the Tribune deal would give it a presence in major markets including New York and Chicago. The company, which is known for its conservative leanings, would reach most U.S. households.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... rkets-wrap
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Sinclair is bringing Trump's war on the media to their stations

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Harry Enten formerly of 538.com now CNN has a good column.
A new promo campaign from the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group is raising concerns about the message the company is promoting through the 173 local stations it owns or operates. A video montage of news anchors at Sinclair stations across the country regurgitating the same company-mandated script decrying "false news" went viral over the weekend. Sinclair says the promos are focused on unsubstantiated stories like "Pope Endorses Trump" or "Pizzagate," but media critics noted that the promos also echoed some of the same anti-media sentiment pushed by President Donald Trump.

Most of Sinclair's stations are CNN affiliates -- meaning CNN shares content and resources with them and vice versa. Sinclair is the largest owner of local TV stations in the US, but it's not just its size that makes it influential, it's also how the US audience views local news compared to other media. More people still get their news from local television stations than from any other source. According to a 2017 Pew Research Center study, 37% of Americans say they often get their news from local television news. That's higher than cable news (28%) or network television news (26%). It's far greater than the percentage of Americans who they get their news through newspapers (18%), radio (25%), social media (20%) and even from news websites (33%).

Local television news also reaches an ideologically diverse audience. Although a study of local television ratings and transcripts by Gregory J. Martin and Josh McCrain of Emory University determined that viewership of Sinclair owned stations does seem to be lower in Democratic leaning areas, it's not as easy to distinguish liberal versus conservative sources for local news like it is on cable or radio talk shows. Democrats and Republicans are about equally as likely to watch local news, according to Pew. Republicans are 9 points more likely to watch cable news often, as a point of comparison. It is therefore far easier for any local television news station to get a point of view across to both sides of the aisle in a way that it isn't for other types of news organizations. And yes, Martin and McCrain's study does show that Sinclair focuses far more on national political news than its competitors.

The public is also more likely to trust the information coming from a local news source. Pew found that 85% of Americans trust local news organization at least somewhat for information. That's higher than any other source and even greater than friends and family who clock in at 77% for trust. This trust is probably why local television news has kept its grip on many demographic groups which you might not expect. While those 65 years and older are the most likely to often get their news from local television (57%), a significant share of 18-29 year-olds (18%) and 30-49 year-olds (28%) still do as well. The ability of local television news to reach a younger audience is one of its main differentiating factors with cable and network news. Less than 17% of those 30-49 and less than 11% of those under 30 get their news often from either cable or network television. (It should be noted that those under 50 are, not surprisingly, more likely to get their news online than on television.)

The group that is most likely to get their news from local news are the group that Trump has become closely associated with: the working class. Pew found that nearly one-half of those making less than $30,000 a year and nearly one-half of those with a high school degree or less often get their news from local television. The percentage of the working class who get their news from local television is over 10 points higher than those who get it from cable or network television. Among those who make more than $75,000 a year or have at least a college degree, less than 30% often get their information from local television news. Slightly more from these groups rely on cable news.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/02/politics ... index.html
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Sinclair is bringing Trump's war on the media to their stations

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Imagine living in Flint MI and seeing this propaganda.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fl ... 1f9e042428
It’s propaganda, plain and simple: demonstrably favorable coverage of an agenda that parrots the talking points of the agenda’s message crafters.


Besides the Epshteyn segments, Sinclair forces its affiliates to air a number of other regular features, including a daily “Terrorism Watch Desk,” which reports on the day’s news in violent extremism (or half-baked attempts to gin up some).


That this content is distributed from a central authority only adds to the darkly comical notion that messaging practices perfected by the Soviet Department for Agitation and Propaganda are being married to the agenda of white nationalists like Steve Bannon.
Sinclair has a major presence in Flint, owning or operating the local Fox, NBC and CW affiliates. At a time when many local activists are battling the small-government, laissez-faire agenda of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and the emergency managers he’s appointed since 2011 to oversee the city’s finances, the fact that three of the city’s TV stations are controlled by an aggressively conservative broadcaster is deeply troubling to those activists.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

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