As news ownership consolidates, will local TV become more partisan?
Until recently, most Americans had likely never heard of Sinclair Broadcast Group. But the conservative network, which is seeking a $3.9 billion merger that would make it the most influential player in local TV, set off alarm bells this spring when it required all its anchors around the country to read a statement about the importance of unbiased journalism.
On the surface, the statement sounded fairly reasonable. “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,” it said in part. It urged viewers to get in touch if they saw its coverage as unfair.
But coming from a network that regularly requires its stations to run conservative programming, includingsegments from former Trump senior adviser Boris Epshteyn, a Sinclair political analyst, the statement was seen by many as a broadside against mainstream media outlets for perceived liberal bias. And the tactic struck some viewers as something drawn froma communist playbookthan America’s constitutional ideals.
Changing the rulesA trend toward consolidation‘I wouldn’t change a thing’A decline in qualityYou’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
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