SInclair Local Newscasters forced to air propaganda script

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

The only thing I'm going to bring up is this Youtube video of a number of Newscasters reciting the same script

If this were Fox News, I would have laughed at it.  But it's not.  And this isn't Fake News.  It's worse than that: It's Dangerous Propaganda.  The Local News is suppose to report on what's going on in our neighborhood.  But Sinclair Broadcasting is getting its hold on a variety of stations across the nation, be it Fox, ABC or CBS.  One station has decided to defy this script

 

 

Quote

A Sinclair-owned news station in Madison, Wisconsin pushed back against the conservative-leaning media company’s directives this week, saying it refused to air a recent “must-run” propaganda segment highlighting “false news” from competitor stations out of a commitment to its viewers.

“WMSN/FOX47 Madison did not air the Sinclair promotional announcement during our 9pm news this weekend,” a spokesperson for Fox 47 Madison said. “Rather, we stayed true to our commitment to provide our Madison area viewers local news, weather and sports of interest to them.”

Fox 47’s comments were in direct response to recent fallout over a script for a “must-run” segment that was sent to all Sinclair-owned stations last month, which claimed “false news” from competing outlets posed a danger to democracy.

“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. More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories… stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first,” the script reads, in part. “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.”

The script was first shared by Seattle’s KOMO-TV and published by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Thursday. CNN also detailed the must-run segments earlier in March.

You can read more about it at https://thinkprogress.org/sinclair-news-station-refuses-fake-news-segment-5e1f5dac6da3/

 

If you have a News Station owned by Sinclair, you're better off choosing another channel or just turning off the TV altogether.

[Gestum 2,493]

I don't really see the problem here. All it's saying it's that fake news is bad.

[碇 シンジン 27,431]

the news media has been corrupted for a long time so it really isnt a surprise to see stuff like this i dont think you should take all stuff at face value these days. its one of the reasons i stopped following the news and stuff like that.a long time ago

Edited April 3, 2018 by Hanekawa Tsubasa

[Denim&Venöm 19,052]

This is what happens when you have both freedom of the press and freedom from government censorship. No regulation and no obligation to publish facts and cite sources. 

Besides, the only reason Madison didn't conform is due to them being very liberal in a moderately conservative state. If Sinclair wanted them to air a script promoting liberal propaganda, they'd air it without a second thought, and some other city would object. 

3 hours ago, SaburoDaimando said:

The only thing I'm going to bring up is this Youtube video of a number of Newscasters reciting the same script

If this were Fox News, I would have laughed at it.  But it's not.  And this isn't Fake News.  It's worse than that: It's Dangerous Propaganda.  The Local News is suppose to report on what's going on in our neighborhood.  But Sinclair Broadcasting is getting its hold on a variety of stations across the nation, be it Fox, ABC or CBS.  One station has decided to defy this script

 

 

You can read more about it at https://thinkprogress.org/sinclair-news-station-refuses-fake-news-segment-5e1f5dac6da3/

 

If you have a News Station owned by Sinclair, you're better off choosing another channel or just turning off the TV altogether.

Like one that airs liberal propaganda instead?

Just about every American news station falls into either a conservative camp or a liberal camp. You can't complain about one without giving the other equal criticism. 

Doesn't matter whether you're on the liberal side or the conservative side.

Simply put, you're on the wrong side. 

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

Not all news is Liberal or Conservative.  I always regard the local news as moderately center of politics.  

 

The problem is that Sinclair is not just Fox News, they control around 39% of the Local News across the US.  They are set to buying out Tribune Media, which will give them a bigger share of the Local News Market.  They're also favored by Donald Trump of all people.  And on a side note, Sinclair stations may also carry so-called Liberal stations like NBC.  A twist of irony, considering their political side.

 

I know you want to spout the news as Liberal or Conservative.  But not everything is in Black and White.  And besides, that statement only makes Moderates look bad.

Edited April 3, 2018 by SaburoDaimando

[Megas 27,662]

2 hours ago, Gestum said:

I don't really see the problem here. All it's saying it's that fake news is bad.

It's the blatant hypocrisy, they're decrying the media of spreading propaganda and fake news to push personal agenda....while spreading propaganda and fake news to push personal agenda to the majority of US household via their "must runs"

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

1 hour ago, Alvin Yakitori said:

It's the blatant hypocrisy, they're decrying the media of spreading propaganda and fake news to push personal agenda....while spreading propaganda and fake news to push personal agenda to the majority of US household via their "must runs"

Personally, I think calling it Fake News undermines what it should be called: Dangerous Propaganda

[SharpWit 2,669]

I find it hilarious that they didn't at least tell the stations to reword the thing. It's idiotic to think this wouldn't be noticed. It also makes me wonder where else this is happening without our knowledge. I doubt most conspiracies because the end results of master plans don't logically benefit anyone, or all parties involved are too incompetent to pull them off, but these massive enterprises that wear a mask of the well known companies they own, they're a potential threat to the interest's and values of the general public.

[Twiggy 2,966]

12 hours ago, SaburoDaimando said:

If this were Fox News, I would have laughed at it.  But it's not.  And this isn't Fake News.  It's worse than that: It's Dangerous Propaganda.  The Local News is suppose to report on what's going on in our neighborhood.  But Sinclair Broadcasting is getting its hold on a variety of stations across the nation, be it Fox, ABC or CBS.  One station has decided to defy this script

They all do this all the time. Sinclare was just stupid enough to get caught because they made the statements the same for all stations. The news outlets that ran smears against Pewdiepie and JonTron were at least competent enough to have different writers write their own versions of the stories so that it didn't look like coordinated propaganda.

 

Quote

“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. More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories… stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first,” the script reads, in part. “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.”

While the practice is morally bankrupt imo, this is actually correct, except for the extremely dangerous to Democracy part. It's extremely dangerous to their monopoly on information, but not to Democracy.

 

12 hours ago, SaburoDaimando said:

or just turning off the TV altogether.

This. Also I would recommend just canceling your cable subscription completely. Any TV show or movie you might want to watch will be recorded and uploaded within an hour of it ending on TV. These people would go away if we stop giving them money.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Twiggy

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

you mean the news station owned by GOP Mega donor Robert Mercer, and run by Boris Epshteyn is pushing pro Trump narratives!?!? no wai!

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

On 4/3/2018 at 10:24 PM, Twiggy said:

Also I would recommend just canceling your cable subscription completely. Any TV show or movie you might want to watch will be recorded and uploaded within an hour of it ending on TV. These people would go away if we stop giving them money.

The sad thing is that unlike Fox News, Local TV doesn't need a Cable Subscription.  All you need is Digital Rabbit Ears.

[kaiser5578 340]

Yeah we have this same bloody thing in Asheville, North Carolina

this is why I spend so much time on the web, it's harder for them to screw with us here