John Oliver and co. already covered Sinclair in great depth in a 2017 episode of Last Week Tonight.
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The first three legs were firmly in place and fully operational, but the pièce de résistance would be a Sinclair group of more than 200 stations in cities nationwide. But Sinclair may now be enjoying its most public moment yet thanks to a Deadspin supercut of dozens of Sinclair reporters reading the same script-almost word-for word-that the company recently sent out to its syndicates.
The disturbing video displays the vast power that Sinclair has over controlling the narrative of almost 200 local news stations that they have ownership of.
Sinclair stations are in 89 US markets and reach millions of viewers. After the story was reported on CNN and MSNBC Monday, Trump jumped to Sinclair’s defense.
“The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are anxious about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast”.
Meanwhile, a new poll has found that 77 percent of Americans believe that media outlets do report “fake news” at least occasionally – up from 63 percent past year. BUT your local news should be free of this extreme partisan behavior and is important when it comes to getting local stories that wouldn’t immediately get attention on major news networks. One user said they were, “glad to see KBOI acknowledging that there may be 2 sides to every story. only getting the liberal side from other local stations”.
The company has a history of cutting staffs and shaving costs by requiring stations to share news coverage, in that way reducing unique local content. Unfortunately, some members of the national media are using their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control “exactly what people think”. Pro-Trump commentaries by former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn are another “must-run” feature.
On Monday, 15 minutes before he was scheduled to host a breakfast reception for the White House Easter Egg Roll, President Donald Trump took a break from his central morning activities – needling China into a trade war and posturing for his anti-immigrant supporters – to defend Sinclair on Twitter.
Stelter also obtained a memo from Sinclair news executive Scott Livingston directing television anchors to read the message.
Fischer said television news anchors and reporters at WJAR and other stations are afraid to speak out, and their contracts give the union little power to protect them if they do.
Burke said he’s received a number of emails from people who work at Sinclair stations but he’s been too busy at his regular job posting sports videos to look into them.
It’d be a financially damning move for young journalists, many of whom are recent college graduates, to quit their jobs at a Sinclair-owned statement.
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A Sinclair spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
