Sinclair Hiring New “Investigative Projects” Staffer as Controversy Mounts Putting Monopolistic Merger in Jeopardy
Sinclair Also Receiving Scrutiny for Series of Trump-Friendly Scoops in the Russia Investigation
In Case You Missed It – Sinclair Broadcast Group is hiring a new executive producer for “Investigative Projects,” this according to a job listing posted on Hireable.com yesterday. The description goes on to note the position will report directly to “the Vice President of News” – as you’ll recall, Sinclair VP of News Scott Livingston recently raised questions of impropriety after sending a bizarre memo to news directors at local stations attempting to defend the company’s troubling practice of injecting partisan commentary into programming and mandating that local news stations air “must-run” partisan content produced at Sinclair’s headquarters.
New “Investigative Projects” Staffer and Bizarre Memo Arrive as Sinclair Faces Mounting Criticism Over Partisan Slant of its News and “Must-Run” Content
In Maine, the Portland Herald reported this weekend that local Sinclair stations WGME and WPFO are stirring up controversy by carrying taped segments “on orders from” Sinclair:
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 [Mark McCutcheon of South Portland, Maine] 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.
It is this sort of coverage that has news consumers worried all over the country. Especially in markets where Sinclair is attempting to gobble up additional local stations currently owned by Tribune Broadcasting. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported yesterday on the growing concerns surrounding Sinclair’s attempt to acquire Tribune’s WJW Fox 8 in Cleveland:
“They may leave them alone on day-to-day operation of the station, if the station is profitable, but they’re not going to leave them alone on politics,” Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik said. “They’re not just political. They’re kind of in-your-face about being political. They have a history of engagement in Republican and right-wing politics, and I think there’s a real danger of politics being injected into local newscasts.”
With Local Stations and Viewers Deeply Concerned, Sinclair Is Also Drawing Scrutiny for its Trump-Friendly Scoops on the Russia Investigation
With local stations and viewers up in arms over Sinclair’s partisan slant, national media outlets are taking notice. The Guardian reported yesterday that the Sinclair owned website Circa has gained attention for getting a number of Trump-friendly “scoops” on the Russia investigation:
For months, Circa [the video-heavy Sinclair website] has attracted special attention from other news outlets for a series of scoops on the progress of the Russian investigation that many saw as shoring up the administration’s narrative.
The latest scoop came on Thursday, when Circa reported that a high-ranking FBI official, the general counsel James A Baker, was “the top suspect in an ongoing leak investigation”, having allegedly leaked “classified national security information to the media.”
Despite Efforts by Sinclair to Paint a Picture of Objectivity, The Increasingly Brutal Coverage of its Partisan Slant and Close Ties to the Trump Administration Could Put its Hopes for a Monopolistic Tribune Merger in Jeopardy
To speak with Karl Frisch about the proposed Sinclair/Tribune merger, please contact Tucker Middleton at 202-644-8526 or tucker@alliedprogress.org.
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