SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"They're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors," says John Oliver. (Screengrab: "Last Week Tonight")
John Oliver: This Right-Wing Media Company Is National Threat to Local News
'The most influential media company that you've never heard of'
Jul 03, 2017
In Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight," host John Oliver took on media consolidation and the not-so-covert conservative bias at Sinclair Broadcast Group's local news stations.
"With Sinclair, they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors--the two people who you know, and who you trust." --comedian John Oliver"Sinclair may be the most influential media company that you've never heard of," Oliver said of the nation's largest television-station conglomerate. In May, the company announced it was acquiring Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, which will add the Tribune's 42 stations to Sinclair's 173. The acquisition requires regulatory approval from federal antitrust regulators and the Federal Communications Commission.
Watch the full segment below:
A defining component of Sinclair is the "must-run" strategy. Local producers across the country are sent video segments they are required to work into their broadcasts, along with scripts that local anchors use to introduce them. To demonstrate this, Oliver aired several clips of a particularly amusing--and ridiculous--anchor intro for one of the segments: "Did the FBI have a personal vendetta in pursuing the Russia investigation of president Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn?"
But after detailing the far-reaching claims on which that segment centered, Oliver identified the overarching issue: "There is real power in hearing your trusted local newscasters using 'FBI' and 'personal vendetta' in a sentence."
Though it's commonly compared to Fox News, Oliver characterized Sinclair's conservative angle as more covert than its cable comrade: "In contrast to Fox News, a clearly conservative outlet where you basically know what you're getting, with Sinclair, they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors--the two people who you know, and who you trust."
And those nightly news anchors are trusted sources among the American public. Last year the Pew Research Center found that people trust local news sources more than national news sources, family and friends, or social media.
Sinclair also reports on terrorism--"every single day, whether there is something major to report on or not"--through its "Terrorism Alert Desk," which has aired unsubstantiated claims that even the right-wing news outlet Breitbart reported on cautiously. "I did not know it was possible to dip beneath the journalist standards of Breitbart," said Oliver. "That's like being too bad a chef to work at a carnival food cart."
Though Oliver jokes around about Sinclair's content quality and company policies, he also strike a serious note about the consequences of corporate media consolidation: "Should this Tribune acquisition go through, there are going to be even more good journalists having to see their hard work placed alongside terror desk nonsense, just as there'll be even more unsuspecting audience members who will be getting a heaping dose of Sinclair's content, possibly without realizing it."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight," host John Oliver took on media consolidation and the not-so-covert conservative bias at Sinclair Broadcast Group's local news stations.
"With Sinclair, they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors--the two people who you know, and who you trust." --comedian John Oliver"Sinclair may be the most influential media company that you've never heard of," Oliver said of the nation's largest television-station conglomerate. In May, the company announced it was acquiring Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, which will add the Tribune's 42 stations to Sinclair's 173. The acquisition requires regulatory approval from federal antitrust regulators and the Federal Communications Commission.
Watch the full segment below:
A defining component of Sinclair is the "must-run" strategy. Local producers across the country are sent video segments they are required to work into their broadcasts, along with scripts that local anchors use to introduce them. To demonstrate this, Oliver aired several clips of a particularly amusing--and ridiculous--anchor intro for one of the segments: "Did the FBI have a personal vendetta in pursuing the Russia investigation of president Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn?"
But after detailing the far-reaching claims on which that segment centered, Oliver identified the overarching issue: "There is real power in hearing your trusted local newscasters using 'FBI' and 'personal vendetta' in a sentence."
Though it's commonly compared to Fox News, Oliver characterized Sinclair's conservative angle as more covert than its cable comrade: "In contrast to Fox News, a clearly conservative outlet where you basically know what you're getting, with Sinclair, they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors--the two people who you know, and who you trust."
And those nightly news anchors are trusted sources among the American public. Last year the Pew Research Center found that people trust local news sources more than national news sources, family and friends, or social media.
Sinclair also reports on terrorism--"every single day, whether there is something major to report on or not"--through its "Terrorism Alert Desk," which has aired unsubstantiated claims that even the right-wing news outlet Breitbart reported on cautiously. "I did not know it was possible to dip beneath the journalist standards of Breitbart," said Oliver. "That's like being too bad a chef to work at a carnival food cart."
Though Oliver jokes around about Sinclair's content quality and company policies, he also strike a serious note about the consequences of corporate media consolidation: "Should this Tribune acquisition go through, there are going to be even more good journalists having to see their hard work placed alongside terror desk nonsense, just as there'll be even more unsuspecting audience members who will be getting a heaping dose of Sinclair's content, possibly without realizing it."
In Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight," host John Oliver took on media consolidation and the not-so-covert conservative bias at Sinclair Broadcast Group's local news stations.
"With Sinclair, they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors--the two people who you know, and who you trust." --comedian John Oliver"Sinclair may be the most influential media company that you've never heard of," Oliver said of the nation's largest television-station conglomerate. In May, the company announced it was acquiring Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, which will add the Tribune's 42 stations to Sinclair's 173. The acquisition requires regulatory approval from federal antitrust regulators and the Federal Communications Commission.
Watch the full segment below:
A defining component of Sinclair is the "must-run" strategy. Local producers across the country are sent video segments they are required to work into their broadcasts, along with scripts that local anchors use to introduce them. To demonstrate this, Oliver aired several clips of a particularly amusing--and ridiculous--anchor intro for one of the segments: "Did the FBI have a personal vendetta in pursuing the Russia investigation of president Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn?"
But after detailing the far-reaching claims on which that segment centered, Oliver identified the overarching issue: "There is real power in hearing your trusted local newscasters using 'FBI' and 'personal vendetta' in a sentence."
Though it's commonly compared to Fox News, Oliver characterized Sinclair's conservative angle as more covert than its cable comrade: "In contrast to Fox News, a clearly conservative outlet where you basically know what you're getting, with Sinclair, they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors--the two people who you know, and who you trust."
And those nightly news anchors are trusted sources among the American public. Last year the Pew Research Center found that people trust local news sources more than national news sources, family and friends, or social media.
Sinclair also reports on terrorism--"every single day, whether there is something major to report on or not"--through its "Terrorism Alert Desk," which has aired unsubstantiated claims that even the right-wing news outlet Breitbart reported on cautiously. "I did not know it was possible to dip beneath the journalist standards of Breitbart," said Oliver. "That's like being too bad a chef to work at a carnival food cart."
Though Oliver jokes around about Sinclair's content quality and company policies, he also strike a serious note about the consequences of corporate media consolidation: "Should this Tribune acquisition go through, there are going to be even more good journalists having to see their hard work placed alongside terror desk nonsense, just as there'll be even more unsuspecting audience members who will be getting a heaping dose of Sinclair's content, possibly without realizing it."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.