Since 2016, discerning fact from fiction, real from fake, and truth from lies has become increasingly difficult. Some blame social media and its potential to spread falsehoods or “fake news” (my least favorite term), to unsuspecting and easily manipulated consumers. Others, such as, for example, President Trump, point to national news organizations like The New York Times and CNN and denounce their left-leaning political affiliations as attempts to mislead Americans though one-sided commentary. Finding accurate and relevant news in today’s highly fragmented media landscape is exhausting work, and, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, Americans across the political spectrum are putting more trust in their local news organizations to give them reliable information.
Local news organizations serve a vital role in our society. They give us updates on our high school alma mater’s sports rankings. They cover human interest stories and tell us where and how to watch live-streams of pandas growing up in the local zoo. Sometimes, they even do hard hitting investigative work that gets picked up by national news outlets. While you can expect to receive overtly biased coverage from places like MSNBC or Fox News, local stations have a reputation for being balanced and uncontroversial.
A recent viral video has made many people question that reputation, however. The video begins with one or two anchors introducing themselves and saying, “I’m [we are] extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that [proper name of local station] produces. But I’m [we are] concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.” As the video goes on, viewers see the frames fragment–Brady Bunch style–to include 9, then 36 different sets of anchors all repeating the same script in an ominous chorus.
They continue, echoing the criticisms of the media popular among conservatives, saying, “The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media. 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.”
If you viewed one of these segments from the comfort of your own home, you probably wouldn’t find anything wrong with these comments. When taken at face value, sure, these comments have some validity. But that’s precisely what’s so troubling about this script and the accompanying video exposing just how widespread the message is. You’re probably wondering, “How is it possible for local news stations from California to Connecticut to all run the same message word for word?” That’s where Sinclair Broadcast Group comes in.
Sinclair Broadcast Group is the owner and operator of 193 local TV stations across the country, and Sinclair’s chairman, David D Smith, has made several programming decisions in recent years that push the company in a decidedly right-wing direction. Though some view Smith as a Republican firebrand, he professed that he has “no interest in politics” and his reputation as a backer of Republicans is incorrect. “I probably give more money to Democrats than I give to anybody,” he said in The Guardian. Despite these claims, federal filings show that Smith has given $206,650 to Republicans and $132,350 to Democrats in presidential and congressional campaigns since 1995. Smith probably just forgot about that paltry $75,000 spending difference. We’ve all been there.
A CNN report exposed the “must run” content (from the aforementioned video) disseminated from Sinclair’s headquarters to local stations, and gave insight into the way local journalists reacted to the task of bashing the media, Trump style. “I felt like a POW recording a message,” said one anchor, who chose to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job.
“At my station, everyone was uncomfortable doing it,” another local anchor said. Journalists have expressed concern that “must run” segments are not relevant to their local audiences, but instead are filled with hot-button stories for conservatives. One such example is the “Terrorism Alert Desk” segment, which airs daily in some locations, even if there are no real instances of terrorism to report on.
One such story, about ISIS chopping nine teenagers in half with a chainsaw in Iraq was run, despite not being independently verified by any outlet. The story was picked up by tabloids and Breitbart.com, and when confronted about their sources, these organizations tried to distance themselves by using words like “allegedly” or “reportedly”– a marked difference from the definitive, fear mongering language used by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
There are people who believe that Sinclair Broadcast Group has become a mouthpiece for President Trump, though Smith obviously denies such claims. In an interview with The Guardian, Smith discussed conversations he had with Trump after he had secured the Republican presidential nomination.
“I asked Trump, ‘Would you like us to embed with you during your campaign?’,” Smith said. After bringing a number of aides into the room, Trump said, with that classic thoughtfulness he’s so well known for, “Well, whatever.” To which Smith responded, “We are here to deliver your message. Period.”
Smith downplayed these comments, arguing that he simply meant Trump could be interviewed by Sinclair whenever he wanted, and that he extended the same offer to Hillary Clinton but was not taken up on it.
Smith also defends the “must run” commentary segments hosted by former Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn. Though Smith is adamant that Epshteyn’s segments are “not news,” Sinclair headquarters still instructs local stations to run the segments during news bulletins, creating controversy because of the way Epshteyn regurgitates White House talking points.
Knowing what you’re getting from a news source is key. You know you’ll get a conservative perspective from Fox News, and you know you’ll get a liberal perspective from MSNBC. But trying to avoid “the spin” by heading to local news is becoming less and less possible, especially when “the spin” is dressed up in familiar garb, coming from your trusted local anchor. Sinclair’s influence is broad, reaching about 38% of households in the US, and if their proposed merger with Tribune Media is approved by federal regulators, they could potentially add another 42 cities to their portfolio.
The “must run” content peddled by Sinclair’s Washington D.C. headquarters threatens to do exactly what it claims to be against: the destruction of our democracy. Sinclair’s local journalists are forced to surrender their integrity and push propaganda from the White House. This not only infringes on Freedom of the Press, but represents an Orwellian turn to a world where notions of right and wrong, true and false, and good and evil are dictated by those at the highest levels of government. My advice to you, dear reader, is to look up your local television news station. What do they report on? Have they normalized Trumpist propaganda? Are they owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group? Try and find some answers to these questions, and then think about the impact they may have on your local community.
Why do you say at the end of the article that we should be careful about local television stations, but then give no examples. I see that there is a station in Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA of this „Sinclair Broadcast Group‟. Why is there no information about this station?