How America's largest local TV owner turned its news anchors into soldiers in Trump's war on the media: https://t.co/iLVtKRQycL pic.twitter.com/dMdSGellH3— Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 31, 2018
One company. One script. Many, many voices.
A video published by sports news site Deadspin over the weekend revealed dozens of TV anchors from Sinclair Broadcast Group reciting the same speech warning against "biased and false news."
It was the latest show of the vast reach of a company that owns local TV stations across the country and has long been criticized for pushing conservative coverage and commentary onto local airwaves.
Sinclair required local anchors to record promos where they denounce "the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country" and say that "some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control 'exactly what people think.' "
Sinclair says it is simply warning viewers about the dangers of fake news circulating on social media.
But media critics see a powerful company using local journalists to parrot one of President Trump's most consistent talking points — an allegation that the mainstream media cannot be trusted.
Read the rest of the story then answer these questions:
1) What is the Sinclair Broadcasting Group? Does this group have its own bias?
2) What are some of the criticisms of this campaign against 'fake news' by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group? How has Sinclair responded to these criticisms?
3) What does President Trump think about these criticisms? What has he tweeted?
4) Is it wrong for Sinclair Broadcasting Group to send out messages like this or does it really affirm their commitment to fair, unbiased journalism? What do you think?
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