David Beard from Poynter has some thoughts and a lot of relevant links.

Reading from the same ‘propaganda’ script

Now we know.

Many TV local news stations are focusing more on national politics and have taken a rightward slant over the past year. And that move is stemming from ownership of the stations, not the demands of a local audience, conclude two Emory University researchers.

The study comes just as many are raising concerns about a coordinated effort by one major owner of TV stations that forces its anchors to record a segment about “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.”

After examining 7.5 million transcript segments from 743 local news stations, the two researchers saw huge differences between other stations and outlets owned by the nation’s largest local broadcasting chain, the Sinclair Broadcast Group. About 25 million Americans still view local TV news nightly, authors Gregory J. Martin and Josh McCrain write.

The authors found Sinclair stations, on average, carried about a third less local politics coverage and a quarter more national politics. That national allotment included commentaries the stations are forced to run by former Trump official Boris Epshteyn.

A summary of the findings by the Shorenstein Center’s Journalist’s Resource also noted the shift to the right of new Sinclair stations: “The ‘slant scores,’ based on repetition of ideologically linked phrases, increased by about one standard deviation after acquisition by Sinclair as compared to other stations in the same markets,” Chloe Reichel wrote.

The Emory researchers warn this programming could spur nationalistic and polarizing movements. “Given the decline of local print media,” they write, “local TV news is one of the few remaining sources of locally focused journalism. The substantial post-acquisition drop in local coverage at Sinclair-acquired stations can be expected to reduce viewers’ knowledge of the activities of local officials” — and hurt accountability.

How does this play out?

In Seattle, as in many Sinclair markets, trusted local TV anchors are being forced to read what several employees privately call “propaganda” — supporting their Trump-backing bosses and calling other fact-based media outlets “fake news.” Links for feedback have gone to Sinclair headquarters, cutting off the local stations.

Here’s a part of one of the prepared scripts for Seattle’s KOMO-TV, obtained and posted Fridayby seattlepi.com:

(Screengrab)

Seattlepi.com noted a recent Sinclair “must-run” on KOMO was produced by a former employee of the Russian propaganda agency RT and featured disgraced former Trump official Sebastian Gorka parroting official policy. A recent Epshteyn commentary said other outlets were spending too much time reporting on Stormy Daniels, the porn star who was paid $130,000 in hush money before the election not to talk about her alleged sexual relationship with Trump.

Sinclair also forced anchors from its Pennsylvania stations to read a version of the same one-sided promo. Over the weekend, Deadspin made a mashup of anchors of some of the nearly 200 Sinclair stations reading the same script to local viewers throughout America. (Click on the image to see the video.)

A former Fox executive, Peter Chernin, called the move “insidious.” “The first key to stopping it is to call on advertisers who support this propaganda and express your objections,” he tweeted. CNN’s Brian Stelter quoted one Sinclair reporter as saying, “It sickens me.”

An FCC watchdog is examining if Sinclair is getting preferential treatment by the agency, which is considering approving the acquisition of more stations from Tribune. The former FCC chair, Tom Wheeler, has said that the current FCC “bent” rules to help Sinclair, and that the proposed merger is not in the public interest. Here’s where the current Sinclair stations are, and here are the stations it would acquire under the proposed Tribune deal.

If the deal is approved, Sinclair will reach 72 percent of American households, in an era where “the most important force shaping public opinion continues to be local, over-the-air television,” Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a senior attorney at Georgetown’s Communications and Technology Law Clinic, told Mother Jones.

Sinclair already has played ball with Trump: During the 2016 campaign, in exchange for access, Sinclair stations, many in swing states, broadcast Trump interviews without commentary, Jared Kushner told business executives in December 2016.

Posted by Tim Morrissey