Former Sinclair news director speaks out.

Courtesy of CNN: 

A morning TV producer at a Sinclair-owned station in Nebraska has resigned in protest of what he calls the company's "obvious bias." 

Justin Simmons gave notice at KHGI TV on March 26. This was after Sinclair's corporate headquarters mandated that local anchors read the controversial promos warning of "fake" and biased news, but before the promos went viral and became a national topic of discussion. 

Simmons told CNNMoney that he had been concerned about Sinclair's corporate mandates for the past year and a half, and that the promos were just the final straw. 

"This is almost forcing local news anchors to lie to their viewers," he said. He said his feelings are shared by others at his station, but didn't want to say anything that would imperil his colleagues.

Huffington Post actually got their hands on the Sinclair Broadcasting Group employee handbook.

Here is just a portion:   

The handbook states that the company “may monitor, intercept, and review, without further notice, every employee’s activities using Company’s electronic resources and communications systems.”

Well that's chilling.

But if you think that all of this attention has changed Sinclair's practices, you would be sorely mistaken.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Sinclair-owned news stations promoted a pre-taped segment praising President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on foreign nations this week, amid controversy over a leaked “must-run” script. 

The canned clip, a recurring “commentary” segment called “Bottom Line with Boris,” features former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn delivering administration-friendly talking points on the president’s proposed tariffs, which target countries like China. 

“The newly negotiated trade deal between the United States and South Korea shows the new tariffs on steel and aluminum, which went into effect last week, are already paying dividends,” Epshteyn said, citing a March 25 pact between the two countries that forces South Korea to slash its steel exports to the United States by 30 percent, while exempting it from a regular 25 percent tariff. 

“Here’s the bottom line,” he said. “This new deal with South Korea is a win for American businesses and our economy. Instead of causing trade wars, as critics have feared, the new tariffs…are pushing our trading partners to engage in fair trade with the United States.”

You would think that Boris Epshteyn might shed a few of those ugly pounds of fat by carrying all of this water for Donald Trump.

Or in this case instead of water I think he is more accurately carrying buckets filled with bullshit.

Captives of Sinclair Broadcasting. Update!

There is no part of me that could allow myself to work for a soulless corporation that spreads lies like this one does.

But then I was raised with a little something called "integrity."

Update: This addresses some of the points made in the comments section.

Courtesy of Bloomberg:

After Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. drew widespread criticism for having anchors read a statement taking aim at the integrity of other U.S. media outlets, many wondered why some of the company’s journalists didn’t just quit. 

The short answer is the cost may be too steep. According to copies of two employment contracts reviewed by Bloomberg, some Sinclair employees were subject to a liquidated damages clause for leaving before the term of their agreement was up: one that requires they pay as much as 40 percent of their annual compensation to the company. 

While they were also subject to a six-month noncompete clause and forced arbitration, three current and former Sinclair employees said it was the potential financial penalty that had the greatest impact on those thinking of quitting. Under the clause, there’s a specific window of time during which employees can give notice. One current employee who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly said the clause’s limitations are the reason he hasn’t quit. A former employee who also requested anonymity said both the noncompete and the damages clause dissuaded her at first from looking for work elsewhere.

It's like they knew all along that their practices would inspire employees to run for the hills, so they shackled them to their desks.

Hard to believe this is even legal. 

"This is extremely dangerous to our democracy."

This is what happens when Sinclair Broadcasting buys up the local stations.

The country is now slowly being taken over by conservatives who realize they cannot win by playing fair, so they are subtly slipping propaganda into our local news in the hopes that it poisons citizens against Democrats and progressive ideas.

 And it is terrifying!

Sinclair Broadcasting, Donald Trump's favorite broadcasting company, to air conservative attacks on the media on local stations around the country.

Courtesy of CNN: 

As scripted, the promos decry "fake stories" from national news outlets -- echoing President Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about "fake news.

"The promos are supposed to start airing on local stations later this month. The instructions sent to station news directors say that the 60- and 75-second spots should run frequently "to create maximum reach and frequency." 

The promo requirements are the latest reason why some Sinclair journalists are upset with the company's Maryland-based management. In recent years Sinclair's owners, the Smith family, have made several programming decisions that reflect a right-wing agenda. 

Most noticeably, pro-Trump commentaries by former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn have cut into local news time. Local journalists have also bristled at so-called "must run" packages about subjects that aren't relevant to local audiences -- but are hot-button stories for conservatives. The "Terrorism Alert Desk" is a regular segment about security threats around the world.

The instructions to local stations say that the promos "should play using news time, not commercial time." Like the Epshteyn commentaries, this takes away from local news time. 

"Please produce the attached scripts exactly as they are written," the instructions say. "This copy has been thoroughly tested and speaks to our Journalistic Responsibility as advocates to seek the truth on behalf of the audience." 

The promos begin with one or two anchors introducing themselves and saying "I'm [we are] extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that [proper news brand name of local station] produces. But I'm [we are] concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country." 

Then the media bashing begins.

"The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media," the script says. "More alarming, national media outlets are publishing these same fake stories without checking facts first. 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' ... This is extremely dangerous to our democracy." 

Then the anchors are supposed to strike a more positive tone and say that their local station pursues the truth. "We understand Truth is neither politically 'left or right.' Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever."

If all of that sounds familiar it is because those are the talking points espoused by Fox News for decades now.

"All other news is false, and the truth can only be found here."

It used to be that you could avoif this kind of conservative propaganda simply by avoiding Fox News, and similar Right Wing news outlets.

But with his agenda now coming into your homes on your local stations, that now becomes almost impossible.

Sinclair is now in the process of trying to acquire Tribune Media which will expand its reach even further.

The FCC is yet to sign off on the deal, but with Trump's man Ajit Pai now in charge, it is likely going to go through with only minimal resistance.

Sinclair owned news outlets give frightening daily terrorist updates whether there is an actual threat or not.

Courtesy of Providence Journal:  

The company that owns WJAR-TV is mandating the broadcast of multiple programs favorable to President Donald Trump on the state’s most-watched television station. 

Sinclair Broadcast Group, a rapidly growing media company that bought Channel 10 in 2014, produces “must-run” segments and distributes them to its local stations nationwide. They must air during daily news programming, Sinclair executives said. 

Three of the segments have rattled viewers and WJAR’s own news reporters, according to Fletcher Fischer, the business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1228, the union that represents broadcast workers there:

 ‒ The Terrorism Alert Desk, advertised as a daily news update about terrorist activity. 

‒ News pieces from Epshteyn, Sinclair’s chief political analyst. 

‒ A clearly labeled opinion show featuring Mark Hyman, a former vice president of the company. 

These pieces are fed to Sinclair’s 174 stations in the United States every day. Sinclair’s insertion of the segments into news programming has been harshly critiqued by Rhode Islanders and national commentators.

One of the main problems is that "Terrorism Alert Desk" which plays daily, along with its ominous theme, even if there is nothing really to report.  

The Terrorism Alert Desk’s updates, even in the absence of any real terrorism-related events, is scary for some, said Moni Chea, a 32-year-old Providence woman who works in a nursing clinic. Chea’s 85-year-old grandmother fled conflict in Cambodia and now lives in Portland, Maine, where Sinclair owns a local station. 

“It’s very captivating. She hears the music and it sounds very important. I try to tell her it’s just an update about national security, but she worries,” said Chea. “She fled a war. For her, terrorism — that’s her biggest fear.”

I am sure many of you remember the Bush Administration terror alerts, which were liberally used to keep us on edge and to maintain support for their unnecessary wars.

The Bushies also experimented with their own media outlets (Besides the always reliable Fox News.) and this just feels like another version of the same old propaganda.

Of course the conservatives will argue that this is just to offset the mainstream media's liberal bias, but that is just Right Wing slang for "responsible journalism."

What is more insidious, as we have previously pointed out, is that this is being disguised as local coverage, and viewers are not made aware of their local station's change in agenda or that they may in fact be watching "fake news" served with a healthy side of Right Wing propaganda.

Trump's America is looking more and more like Hitler's Germany every day.

Trump TV is alive and well and coming soon to a local station near you.

Courtesy of Press Herald:  

In the midst of the local news, a taped commentary from President Trump’s former special assistant Boris Epshteyn appeared on the screen, trumpeting the administration’s position with what he thought selective use and abuse of facts. 

McCutcheon, a small-business owner and political independent, describes the experience as “surreal,” “extremely jarring” and “so out of place with the friendly, local broadcast from news people I’ve come to trust over the years.” There was no rebuttal, no context, no alternate point of view – a situation he found concerning. 

WGME-TV (Channel 13) and WPFO-TV (Channel 23) each carry the segments nine times a week on orders from their owner, the Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the nation’s largest owner of local television stations and an aggressive, unabashed disseminator of conservative commentary supporting the Trump wing of the Republican Party.

......

Portland’s WGME, a CBS affiliate, and its sister station WPFO, a Fox affiliate, are required to air them. They are the only stations in Maine that are forced to run editorial commentary by their corporate parent. 

“It’s unheard of to have one company pushing one specific agenda reaching so many people and doing it in a way designed to evade local input,” says Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press, a Washington-based group that opposes media consolidation. “The idea of having local stations offer an array of viewpoints is great, but what we get with Sinclair is one set of political leanings being broadcast everywhere.”

Yes, Sinclair Broadcasting is the same conservative news outlet that John Oliver warned us about at the beginning of this month.

What may be even more troubling than the fact that Trump TV will now be broadcast into our homes while camouflaged as local news coverage is how they ended up with so many local TV stations under their control.

Courtesy of The Stern Facts: 

Sinclair Broadcasting is buying dozens of local television stations from the Tribune Company, which will expand their reach to create the largest local news broadcast empire our country has ever seen on TV. 

It’s taken some very special help from the Trump Administration. 

With the addition of one of Trump’s top surrogates, the stage has been set to distribute Administration propaganda nationally, without telling the audience that they’re watching biased local news, even though it’s branded ABC, CBS or NBC. 

Sinclair says it has 173 television stations in 81 markets, broadcasting 514 channels and having affiliations with all the major networks. 

By 2013, Sinclair Broadcasting owned more TV stations than anyone else in the country. 

Now, they will vastly exceed the FCC’s cap on how much local television market share a single corporation — 39% of the national viewing market to be precise — is allowed to hold after purchasing the Tribune company’s 42 stations and 14 more in a separate deal. 

But first, they cut a deal with during the campaign with Jared Kushner for “good” coverage of the Trump Administration, which seems to have paid off with a major regulatory change in their favor. 

What was that regulatory change?

This:

The FCC caps broadcast licensees from reaching more than 39% of Americans to limit the amount of power concentrated into the hands of a single television broadcaster. 

It took a vote on changing regulations initiated by the FCC’s fiercely partisan Trump appointee Ajit Pai who resurrected a regulation that the Obama Administration killed in 2016, reinstating rules about UHF TV signals to enable the $3.9 billion dollar deal that will take Trump TV from 30% of America’s television households up to 72% of local viewers. 

That folks is one of the most egregious examples of "pay for play" that I have ever seen.

But even though that was a major clarion call for Tea Party conservatives, and their queen Sarah Palin, back in the day they won't utter a peep about it.

Why?

Because it helps further their agenda, that's why.

Face it my friends, journalism, facts, and even the fabric of our reality are now under constant assault. And the only defense we have on our side is the truth.

Here's hoping that will be enough.

John Oliver warns about the conservative take over of local TV news.

Courtesy of The Guardian:

John Oliver took a look at the Sinclair group on Sunday night, examining the conservative-leaning station’s ownership of many local news networks. 

“Our main story tonight concerns the potential problems in corporate consolidation of local news,” Oliver began. “National cable news gets a lot of attention with their big budgets and their fancy graphics packages. Meanwhile, local news often has to do a lot more with a lot less.” 

He went on to show clips of broadcaster Mark Hyman railing against “political correctness and multiculturalism”. 

“Hyman is a commentator and former executive at Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Sinclair may be the most influential media company you’ve never heard of,” Oliver explained. “Not only are they the largest owner of local TV stations in the country, they could soon get even bigger,” referring to the company’s proposed $4bn acquisition of all Tribune Media stations.

Once again John Oliver has exposed an incredibly troubling problem that many of us did not even realize existed.

Like I said this is even more troubling than Fox News or Right Wing radio.

At least with those you can have the expectation that the news you are hearing is slanted and possibly even exaggerated for effect.

But your local news is supposed to be tailored to the needs of its viewers, not shaped by the odeology of its conservative overlords.