By Glynn Wilson –
This may be the most important news you read this week, maybe this month.
So you think the exposure of “fake news” in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election and all the stories about how Facebook data was compromised and used to manipulate voters was the end of the controversy? Surely all the publicity about this woke up the American people and informed them so they will never be manipulated to elect the likes of Russian sympathizer Donald Trump ever again, right?
Think again.
Two-thirds of the people around the country who rely on local television news — according to public opinion and media research the most trusted source of news for many Americans — are still being manipulated by fake news propaganda on television thanks to Sinclair Broadcasting.
The politically conservative Maryland-based company is the largest owner of local television news stations in the U.S., controlling nearly 200 stations, including the ABC and NBC affiliates in the Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida market. It is awaiting FCC approval in its bid to acquire Tribune Media Company’s 42 stations, which would expand its reach to nearly three-quarters of American households.
The buyout would also include many of the largest newspapers left in the country, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun, along with entire chains of local weekly newspapers, already only shadows of their former selves.
It recently came to light that the corporate management at Sinclair had sent down mandated scripts for local news anchors to read full of pro-Trump propaganda, scary war news and attacks on other real news outlets for putting out “biased and false news.”
According to the Columbia Journalism Review’s Monday morning email blast about this, it was CNN that first reported on the existence of the “anchor delivered journalistic responsibility message” last month, quoting one Sinclair anchor as acknowledging, “this is so manipulative.” In late March, the spots began running on channels from Seattle to Washington, DC. to Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida.
This corporate mandated, right-wing “must-run” content included commentary from ex-Trump aide Boris Epshteyn and fear-mongering updates from a so-called “Terrorism Alert Desk.” The latest message, described by more than one observer as “Orwellian,” makes explicit the corporation’s efforts to undermine trust in the press. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer transcribed the message as it ran on local Sinclair station KOMO, part of which reads:
“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.
“More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories… stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first.
“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.”
But what no other media news outlet is reporting includes another troubling trend in what viewers are being exposed to rather than the national programming produced by the national networks.
Alabama’s newest Senator Doug Jones recently sent out a Twitter notification that he was to appear on the ABC Sunday show “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos to talk about civil rights. The problem is, the ABC affiliate in Mobile and Pensacola, WEAR, does not air the show. Instead, it runs Sunday morning church services and other paid programming. So a huge swath of people who rely on these local television news channels just missed out on this news.
Jones, a Democrat who defeated Republican former judge Roy Moore in the special U.S. Senate last year, also visited Mobile this past week, and probably expected people along the Gulf Coast to see coverage of his visit. Maybe a report about this made the CBS affiliate or Fox 10 News. But nothing appeared on ABC or NBC in this area. Both are owned by Sinclair.
You can see the Sunday segment here:
One online news outlet called this sort of attack on the press by Sinclair stations “dangerous to a democracy,” and ran a story under the headline
In CNN’s initial report, Brian Stelter broke the news that Sinclair 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.
Perhaps you have seen the “Terrorism Alerts” on the news and been puzzled by them, or maybe you have accidentally surfed onto one of the “required editorials” from former Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, now infamous for his Holocaust Remembrance Day statement that failed to mention the Jewish people.
Sinclair also owns the show Ring of Honor wrestling, and as we have already pointed out here, it was professional wrestling where Trump got his early start.
How Wrestle Mania Trumped Intelligence in U.S. Politics
The net result of Sinclair’s mandated content is that “dozens of local news anchors look like hostages in proof-of-life videos, trying their hardest to spit out words attacking the industry they’d chosen as a life vocation,” according to The Concourse.
Here is an example of one of Sinclair’s scripts. Does this make you mad as hell and are you going to stand by and take this anymore?
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 to see if you are among those being manipulated.
If you are a Sinclair employee at a station in Alabama or Florida who has something to say about this, please get in touch. We would like to talk to you.
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