GURJOT KANG; Opinion Editor; kanggk@plu.edu
In the past few weeks, you might have seen the name Sinclair Broadcast Group pop up in your news feed after a video of reporters from Sinclair-owned local news stations across the country went viral. Or, if you’re a fan of John Oliver like me, you might have heard about Sinclair from a video he did last year about the corporation’s conservative agenda and “must-run” programming on his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” Either way, whether or not you’re familiar with Sinclair, Sinclair is likely familiar with your local television news station.
The company is one of the largest nationwide television broadcast groups, owning 192 television stations with 611 channels in 89 U.S. markets. If the local news market were a game of monopoly, Sinclair would be winning. But this large corporation isn’t winning through its mission to “create, innovate and lead for the benefit of everyone” as it says on its official website. Instead of acting as the fair, unbiased organization it claims to be, Sinclair is under attack for a video of hundreds of its reporters reading the same script uttering Trump’s “anti-media” and “fake news” rhetoric, which made rounds all over the internet.
One specific part of the script that stuck, along with the alarmed faces of reporters, was the statement: “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 our democracy.”
As I saw dozens of reporters declaring, “this is extremely dangerous to our democracy,” I found it both ironic and absolutely terrifying because in a way, I couldn’t agree more. Authoritarian broadcast corporations like Sinclair are extremely dangerous to our democracy. They threaten the fourth estate in our society—the news media, or free press—one of the greatest checks on the government’s powers.
Furthermore, Sinclair is ruining the reputation of many local news reporters who have tried to wiggle themselves out of Sinclair’s biased “must-read” scripts. Some reporters later spoke out publicly or anonymously denouncing their presence in the viral video, saying they had no choice but to comply due to contractual agreements or a fear of losing their job. According to CNN Money, one anchor at a local station who chose to remain unidentified states, “this is so much bigger than us. I don’t want people to lose faith in journalists.”
Despite the large amount of backlash the company is facing, there seems to be no regret regarding any of their recent actions with the “anti-media“ and “fake news” script.
In fact, in a recent interview with Forbes, Sinclair CEO Christopher Ripley states, “People believe our decisions are politically motivated when the reality is that we are driven by what we believe is in the best interest of our business.”
There seems to be a narrative floating around that local news is being compromised in the interest of a corporate message, and it couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
Given that the viral video is only a small snippet of Sinclair’s long history of “must-read” segments that suppress the unique coverage and voices of local journalists, these words from Ripley couldn’t be farther from the truth. Sinclair is also known for requiring its local news stations to run conservative-leaning segments like “Terrorism Alerts,” or “Bottom Line with Boris Commentary” presented by none other than “chief political analyst” for Sinclair and former senior advisor to Trump’s presidential campaign, Boris Epshteyn.
The company’s dedication to push its own political agenda instead of preserving the objectivity of local news is apparent despite whatever business proposition Ripley mentions.
One clear supporter of Sinclair’s local news monopoly is Trump. Earlier this month, he tweeted out his support to the company claiming, “Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.”
However, if anything seems to be a joke, it’s Sinclair’s commitment to “objective” local news coverage.
If all this information about Sinclair’s monopoly over local news coverage doesn’t bother you yet, you can learn more about the company from your Seattle-Tacoma KOMO news station. Oh wait, that’s owned by Sinclair, too, as well as other local stations across Washington State like KLEW-TV in Spokane, KEPR-TV in Pasco, KIMA-TV in Yakima, etc.
Even more frightening, the large corporation is trying to further breach the television sets of families across America through its $3.9 billion plan to buy out Tribune Media Co. and its 42 television stations.
This deal is still waiting approval from the Federal Communications Commision and Justice Department since Sinclair faces a restriction on the company’s capacity to reach a national audience (a limit of 39 percent of U.S. homes).
Furthermore, the best way to avoid falling prey to Sinclair’s monopoly is to be aware of the local news stations the company owns nearby and to distinguish between trustworthy news coverage by your local reporters and biased “must-read” scripts passed down by the higher ups at Sinclair.
At the end of the day, the greatest threats to our democracy are dismantling the integrity of journalists and disrupting reliable, local news coverage.
