The “noxious media weed” (Sinclair Broadcasting) takes a big step toward becoming Trump TV
Going way beyond the “Terrorism Alert Desk” and must-run Epshteyn and Hyman commentaries, Sinclair Broadcasting is now requiring local news anchors to attack national media for fake news and bias
CNN is reporting that Sinclair-owned stations (like local Channel 9 WTOV in Steubenville) will require their news anchors to participate in the creation of promos that will attack the “fake stories” found in other news outlets:
The promos are supposed to start airing on local stations later this month. The instructions sent to . . .
Posted in: sinclair broadcastingwtov
Sinclair Media update
Ethics be damned: WTOV's owner solicits money from its news directors for its PAC (political action committee)
From the Washington Post:
Sinclair Broadcast Group is asking its executives — including the news directors at its many stations — to contribute to its political action committee, a move that journalism ethics experts say is highly unusual and troubling.
Why should we be concerned?
Major TV news . . .
Posted in: sinclair broadcasting
Is this the end of locally-produced, small-market television news?
The FCC eliminates the Main Studio Rule
What happened
TV Technology explains:
The new FCC rule eliminating a nearly 80-year old requirement that each AM, FM and TV station maintain a main studio in its community of license will take effect Jan. 8, 2018.
The effective date—30 days after publication of the rule in the Federal Register, which occurred Dec. . . .
A Media Matters study concluded that local broadcast news is doing a terrible job informing us about Republican tax reforms
No surprise -- the study found that Sinclair-owned stations (like local channel 9) are the worst
Yesterday, Media Matters published a study that examined the news content of twenty local television stations in five markets to see how well they were covering the Senate's tax reform bill. Their analysis:
found that key provisions of the tax bill put forth by Senate Republicans were all but omitted from local media . . .
Posted in: republican tax reformsinclair broadcasting
A few more reasons to worry about the growth of Sinclair Broadcasting
With 10/25 update
Like our president, it believes that the rest of the media has not treated it fairly
I’ve been writing about Sinclair Broadcasting’s growth for a couple of months. Here’s some recent additional material from Andy Kroll at Mother Jones:
From the 1980s to the present, Smith and his three brothers built their small family . . .
Posted in: sinclair broadcasting
Sinclair Broadcasting updates
Local station WTOV's parent company continues to make news
Today in Salon, Charlie May writes about how the right wing media company has been ignoring requests from the government's regulatory agency:
Right-wing Sinclair Broadcast Group snubs FCC, gets away with it
The subheading reads:
Sinclair’s loyalties lie with the president — which is perhaps why . . .
Posted in: sinclair broadcasting
Some follow-ups on Senator Joe, Sinclair Broadcasting and Mac Warner
"I don't give a shit" -- Senator Joe once again gets a bit annoyed with critics
Senator Manchin has been known to occasionally express his displeasure at those who criticize him. The best recent example that comes to mind is probably his conversation with a political activist back in February (see here). This . . .
Posted in: joe manchinmac warnersinclair broadcasting
