# The uber-scuzzy Sinclair Broadcast Group **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 10, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889 "2017-07-10T03:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/1 "2017-07-10T03:06:22Z")
Couldn’t find in search anything about this topic so please send links if there were any threads, or even an in-depth post, on this. This went down two months ago, so surely there has to be something you folks had to say about it here. In the meantime, to vent: Thought about posting this in the Fox thread but thought, naw, I need to plant a big Who target on this gaggle of shitvaarks and give them their own personal treatment they deserve. Yeah, there’s some appreciable enough differences between the two media shit-bergs to warrant their own, separate, special TLC - at least Fox (ha I’m already trying to see something “positive” here?) doesn’t require their affiliates to show “must-run” editorial rants from certified grade-A wing-a-dings like Mark Hyman, who is like Alex Jones, but quieter. [Here](http://www.nbcnews.com/video/msnbc-news/6303047#6303047) Hyman looks kinda, I dunno…maybe younger…almost, dare I say, a different dude, than, say, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu6uKOS3S2E)? I guess he just gained a shitload of weight and hyper-aged, then. Another “must-run” commentary piece will be from this vat-of-haggis-rejects-cum-robot [Boris Epshteyn](https://twitter.com/yashar/status/871051086118793216), a former Trump spokesman who will now actually be Sinclair’s chief political analyst. As the link confirms - what an idiotic can of mashed assholes. What in the name of Gary fucking Doak are these bozos being imposed on the affiliates?! At least KOMO in Seattle rebelled a couple months ago by giving these dumb-ass “must-runs” only one airing, at four in the morning.🙂 Another brand of distinction that Sinclair Broadcast Group further trumps over Fox in giving them a good run for their money in trying to bring journalism further down into the murky depths is the liposuction waste called the daily “Terrorism Alert”, just in case paranoia doens’t need to be uselessly drummed up any further. * * * > **[Sinclair Broadcast Group Has Deal To Buy Tribune Media's TV Stations](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/08/527462015/sinclair-broadcast-group-has-deal-to-buy-tribune-medias-tv-stations)** > > Sinclair's holdings are already vast and the deal, which needs federal approval, would give it stations in seven of the top 10 markets. It would further propel consolidation in the industry. > [@](#): > > Sinclair’s plans for acquisition, however, appear likely to sail through. Under its new chairman [and personal **Eddie** “what? net neutrality? huh?!?!” **the Horrible** favourite], Ajit Pai, the Federal Communications Commission has approved new rules relaxing restrictions on how many stations a single company can own. > **[Experts and Tribune Media unions raise concerns about Sinclair’s history of...](https://www.salon.com/2017/05/30/experts-and-tribune-media-unions-raise-concerns-about-sinclairs-history-of-pushing-conservative-propaganda_partner/)** > > “Sinclair is a very right-wing, conservative, almost alt-right in their political beliefs." > [@](#): > > The purchase includes stations in numerous markets in key swing states, and also includes three of the biggest independent news stations in the country in the three largest markets: WPIX in New York City, WGN in Chicago, and KTLA in Los Angeles. All three have strong news operations, while WGN also includes WGN America, a super cable station that serves many markets. (Some observers have speculated that Sinclair could try to turn WGN America into a Fox News competitor.) Just basically wanted to share this grossness for any general comment, so mods - close this right up if you have any links. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/2 "2017-07-10T03:08:38Z")
I’ve heard about this, and that the “must run” clips are usually aired at, like 4am. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/3 "2017-07-10T03:16:44Z")
These fuckers understand that he who controls the propaganda “message” has the chance to control the masses. It has worked very well with the Fox “News” model. Now they’re just furthering their reach. Scary stuff. I was pleased when I saw John Oliver did an extended piece on Sinclair in one of his recent shows. I don’t watch local news, so I was surprised to learn that not one but two of my local affiliates are owned by this nasty group. They are in a lot of markets. And no, I don’t expect this administration to do one damn thing about it. Pai is a total piece of shit, doing exactly Trump’s bidding. Trump is well on his way to getting his Russian-style oligarchy into place. He’s made the appointments of his rich buddies. Now he’s making every effort to control the media and delegitimize every dissenter. This is how it happens. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/4 "2017-07-10T03:26:05Z")
This is the same outfit behind [circa.com](http://circa.com) ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/5 "2017-07-10T03:43:33Z")
One of the TV stations in my town is owned by Sinclair. I’ve known they were sleaze balls since at least 2004, when they forced all their stations to run an anti-Kerry “Swiftboating” “documentary” (fake news before we really knew the term). It’s a shame, too, because that station had the local reputation as _the_ respected local news source for decades before Sinclair bought them. I happened to see that “Terrorism Alert” drop-in during their noon news broadcast recently. It was obviously not locally produced, and knowing it was a Sinclair station I wasn’t surprised (particularly with the red background and the ominous “terrorism watch desk” update), but holy cow, they make their biases so clear to anyone with two functioning brain cells. And they’re the sort to critique CNN and the New York Times as fake news? Sinclair, please. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/6 "2017-07-10T03:48:17Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > This is the same outfit behind [circa.com](http://circa.com) ok I’m out of the loop - never heard of’em. Checked’em out and thought they weren’t _too_ alt-righty, if I can somehow extract some rays of sunshine out of this. No idea why I’m trying to be Mr. Positive here. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/7 "2017-07-10T03:56:00Z")
I remember them from 1999-2000 when they fought the FCC (and the rest of the broadcast & consumer electronics industry) over the standards for digital HDTV. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/8 "2017-07-10T05:26:10Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > ok I’m out of the loop - never heard of’em. > > Checked’em out and thought they weren’t _too_ alt-righty, if I can somehow extract some rays of sunshine out of this. No idea why I’m trying to be Mr. Positive here. It’s too complicated to easily summarize, so it’s best to [read the whole story](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/05/30/fox-news-new-york-times-boycotted-obama-surveillance-story-fox-news-oops-maybe-not). But they did a piece accusing the Obama admin’s NSA of domestic spying (that actually began in the Bush admin) that misled a lot of right-wing media into believing that this was a new story being blacked-out by the mainstream media. It wasn’t, the NYT had reported it months earlier, Circa just sort of pretended it was a huge scoop that they dug up so they could spin it as they saw fit. This eventually led to the rare “double correction” at FOX. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/9 "2017-07-10T12:55:49Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > Another brand of distinction that Sinclair Broadcast Group further trumps over Fox in giving them a good run for their money in trying to bring journalism further down into the murky depths is the liposuction waste called the daily “Terrorism Alert”, just in case paranoia doens’t need to be uselessly drummed up any further. I assume that they then regularly report on right-wing domestic terrorism? If so then sign me up! ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/10 "2017-07-10T13:24:11Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > These fuckers understand that he who controls the propaganda “message” has the chance to control the masses. It has worked very well with the Fox “News” model. Now they’re just furthering their reach. Scary stuff. I was pleased when I saw John Oliver did an extended piece on Sinclair in one of his recent shows. > > I don’t watch local news, so I was surprised to learn that not one but two of my local affiliates are owned by this nasty group. They are in a lot of markets. And no, I don’t expect this administration to do one damn thing about it. Pai is a total piece of shit, doing exactly Trump’s bidding. > > Trump is well on his way to getting his Russian-style oligarchy into place. He’s made the appointments of his rich buddies. Now he’s making every effort to control the media and delegitimize every dissenter. > > This is how it happens. Pretty much. The biggest problem in American politics right now really is the right-wing media, and how trusted it is among a large portion of the electorate who trust no other news sources, and that problem just got a whole lot worse. How the fuck do you fix this? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/11 "2017-07-10T13:43:49Z")
I live in LA and watch KTLA. To say it has a top news division is laughable. It doesn’t cover real news apart from local crime weather and lifestyle. It doesn’t do investigative journalism. It doesn’t try to hold local government accountable. Its all style over substance. It went downhill with the death of Hal Fishman. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/12 "2017-07-10T14:04:14Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > It’s too complicated to easily summarize, so it’s best to [read the whole story](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/05/30/fox-news-new-york-times-boycotted-obama-surveillance-story-fox-news-oops-maybe-not). Yeah that particular story definitely had circa crapping the bed, but with a number of their other stories I guess my jury’s still out as to how much their bias is skewed - certainly in the comments sections it’s nothing but right-leaning. Curious if Seattle’s affiilate had to deal with any repurcussions of any sort from Sinclair for airing only one “must-run” at 4 am. > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > How the fuck do you fix this? Praying, most likely in vain, that viewers will have a semblance of a fucking brain in their heads so that whenever they see zombie terducken Boris Ephsteyn, they’ll be thoroughly :dubious:. yeah yeah ok I thought that idea was in vain, then. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/13 "2017-08-08T18:09:37Z")
No reason to watch local news, anymore. > [@](#): > > \*\*Pro-Trump TV heading to most American homes, thanks to Trump \*\* > His pick to head the FCC opened a loophole to allow a conservative media company to almost double its U.S. reach. > > Sinclair Broadcasting, a group of TV stations that heavily lean conservative, will expand into a majority of American homes, thanks to Trump’s pick to head the Federal Communications Commission. > > FCC chairman Ajit Pai revived a loophole, which was closed by the Obama administration, that will allow Sinclair to buy another group of TV stations and greatly exceed regulations on how many media outlets any one company can own. > > Sinclair, the nation’s largest TV broadcaster, is known for inserting “must-run” conservative segments into local programming, which clearly favored Trump in the 2016 election. It currently owns 107 stations covering 38 percent of American homes. Its plans to buy Tribune Broadcasting Group would add 42 stations and expand its reach to 72 percent of American households. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uber-scuzzy-sinclair-broadcast-group/790889/14 "2017-08-08T22:08:50Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I assume that they then regularly report on right-wing domestic terrorism? If so then sign me up! Well, the “real” news has been strangely silent about that mosque bombing. Expect more of the same. But more of it.