Klamath Falls, OR— Trump-Loving Local News Giant Forcing Its Anchors to Film Media-Bashing Promos.
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.”
Seems reasonable enough, right? Sinclair Senior VP of News Scott Livingston told Stelter that the campaign is merely nodding to journalistic principles we all share: “This promo addresses the troubling trend of false stories on social media”—his emphasis—“and distinguishes our trusted local stations as news destinations where we are committed to honest and accurate reporting.”
But weigh that idealistic description against Sinclair’s actual output— particularly its content about national and international affairs distributed to local stations. Last year, The New York Times reported that, in 2015, the company ordered stations to run often inflammatory segments from its “Terrorism Alert Desk” every day. Other “must-run” segments mandated from on high have included commentaries from Mark Hyman, who for years cheered on the Iraq War, and, more recently, former Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn.
Livingston himself appeared in a segment aired on several local stations last year that echoes the forthcoming campaign almost word for word. It also includes a passage where he virtually tells the audience to snitch to Sinclair management if they feel like local news anchors aren’t being “fair”: Sinclair owns and operates 173 stations and is currently awaiting Trump administration approval for its acquisition of dozens more as part of a mega-merger with Tribune Media. As Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch eyes more local stations for his own conservative media empire, the board is set for a potential power struggle at the local level between the two right-wing titans. Sinclair’s new promo campaign would seem to suggest the company is once again applying Fox News’ tactics on a wider scale.
The spot includes language painting the Sinclair-owned local news stations as the heralds of real news and refers to other media outlets as publishing “fake stories…stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first.” The language reflects President Donald Trump’s insistence that the mainstream news media is “fake” and that certain narratives are pushed for political reasons. “Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control ‘exactly what people think,'” the promo reads.
“This is extremely dangerous to our democracy,” it continues, a tagline repeated numerous times in the compilation video. Jimmy Kimmel turned it around to comment on the promo itself in a tweet posted Saturday.
Jimmy Kimmel@jimmykimmel this is extremely dangerous to our democracy 9:56 PM - Mar 31, 2018 82.5K 31.5K people are talking about this
Kimmel isn’t the only one to have expressed alarm over to the broadcasting agency’s news practices. John Oliver did a segment on Sinclair back in July 2017, which emphasized the company’s injection of conservative political views into their news reporting, including the daily must-run segment “Terrorism Alert Desk” and “Bottom Line with Boris,” which is required to air nine times per week and features former Trump surrogate Boris Epshteyn.
According to Oliver’s reporting, circulating must-run material across all stations is not common practice by broadcast groups.
Local TV remains the most commonly cited source for news among American adults. And the Trump administration’s approval of Sinclair’s merger with Tribune Media would put its news stations into three-quarters of American households. So get ready for more terrorism alerts and Boris Epshteyn. Or, as Sinclair would have it, “honest and accurate reporting.”
Top Right-Wing Broadcaster Praises Our Dear Leader As It Awaits His Approval For Mega-Merger. Local TV news is far more influential than its lame presentation would lead you to believe. And with 173 stations across the country, the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group already dominates the landscape. Its proposed purchase of Tribune Media’s 42 local stations would allow it to grow even bigger, putting its must-run segments with terrorism alarmists and Trump sycophant Boris Ephsteyn into the country’s top three media markets and nearly three-quarters of U.S. households.
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:
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.
By James Garland of Tulelake News
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Email: tulelakenews@yahoo.com
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