The attempt by Sinclair Broadcasting's vice president for news to normalize the Orwellian message local Sinclair broadcasters have been forced to recite as a "well-researched journalistic initiative focused on fair and objective reporting" has been shot to smithereens by Sinclair executive chairman David Smith. He's at war with journalism as he made clear last fall in emails with New York in which he attacked all of print media as a tool of the left without credibility or relevance.
"I must tell that in all the 45 plus years I have been in the media business I have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality especially in today's world with the shameful political environment and generally complete lack of integrity. Facts and truth have been lost for a long time and likely to never return," Smith said.
"The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility." […]
New York communicated with Smith in mid-November, after requesting an interview. "Appreciate the interest in your wanting to do a story but we don't talk to the print media as a general principal as we find them to be so devoid of reality and serving no real purpose. Have a great holiday," Smith said in response. Later, he added, "Again my experience has consistently been that even with an interview it's of no consequence in terms of spin, facts or distortion, political bent etc. The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility. see ya."
Meanwhile, Trump is still tweeting his support for Sinclair over the "Fake News Networks" with their "sick and biased AGENDA." That's doing nothing to help local stations in the Sinclair network square their commitment to their communities with what their owners are trying to force.
A station in Madison, Wisconsin tweeted out their rebellion, saying they "did not air the Sinclair promotional announcement," but instead "we stayed true to our commitment to provide our Madison area viewers local news, weather and sports of interest to them." Not all management is supportive of their news teams, however. At KATU, the Sinclair station in Portland, general manage Robert Truman sent a warning about staff talking to the public or press about the issue: "Please DO NOT answer any questions or get into any discussion with callers, as they try to navigate to someone internally. … Most certainly don't talk to the press about the issue. Direct them to the website and press inquiries to me." Then the implied threat: "I will also remind you that giving statements to the media or sharing negative information about the company can have huge implications."
There's larger pushback with the president of the International Cinematographers Guild, which represents photojournalists at Sinclair stations, saying Sinclair's "'promo' attacks the competition for pushing 'Fake News'—that means they are attacking our members and we think that kind of negative promotion is not in the public interest, as they are required by law to broadcast. … This 'promo' shows the real threat of the merger with Tribune—a company with twice the reach of any company in the history, putting out a single message."
That Tribune merger—the one that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai refuses to recuse himself from even though he's currently under investigation for being too cozy with Sinclair executives in a previous decision—is finally getting the attention it deserves. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and a few dozen of his Democratic colleagues have written to the Justice Department, which must also approve the merger, to reject it.