Sinclair Broadcast Group: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

John Oliver did a good bit on them on Last Week Tonight, including dozens of supposedly local news stations repeating the exact same Sinclair script verbatim. Highly recommend. ▶ this video

Yeah in the US system thanks to some old competition requirements the Affiliate Network gets most of the name recognition and provides most of the prime time entertainment content (a few other content blocks), but the stations under that network have their own owners that can be more or less damaging, especially in news content, and more or less "invisible" in that maybe you only see their name in the fine print at the end of credits or copyright statements. One other notorious example is Sinclair Broadcasting [1]. Sinclair-owned stations include all of the major Affiliate Networks in the US and some of the minor ones, but are known for how much they farm politically-biased news content across their platforms, including trying to pass off editorial content as news content. (ETA: Which is to say that yeah a FOX affiliate gets entertainment programming from what is left of Rupert Murdoch's empire, but could be getting news content from all sorts of places from home-grown proper local journalism to content farms from their real owners.) [1] A humorous rant on it: ▶ this video

All these stations are owned by the Sinclair Group, a right-wing broadcasting corporation that is eroding the editorial independence of local stations in order to run segments like these or the "terrorism alert desk" [1]. John Oliver had a great video on them: ▶ this video Also, the following quote is just utter BS, trying to draw a distinction where there is none: > Reminder: "While it is extremely dangerous to our democracy..." the US is actually a Constitutional Republic. [1]: link

If anyone wants more info, there's a John Oliver segment on how Sinclair does this. ▶ this video They require local stations to play pre-recorded, "must run" commentary, as well as requiring their anchors to recite a script accusing other news outlets of running "fake news". link

Sinclair media owns most local TV stations in the US and uses them to shape public discourse in less-than-ethical ways. I think when local news has gotten as consolidated as it is, it ought to have some kind of obligation to the public, and shouldn't be able to hide behind "it's a private company" to justify bad behavior. John Oliver did an informative bit on Sinclair: ▶ this video

Last Week Tonight (John Oliver) dove into this last year. It's really frustrating that they can leverage so much political sway under the cover of "news reporting". Then forcing news stations to broadcast this garbage. ▶ this video

John Oliver had an interesting show on this a few weeks ago: ▶ this video TL;DR version would be: the Sinclair group is collecting local TV news channels, and their editorial line isn't exactly neutral.

From the article: > "The moves, which include easing a cap on how many stations a broadcaster can own, have opened up lucrative opportunities for Mr. Smith, among them a $3.9 billion bid to buy Tribune Media, another large owner of stations." > "Associates say both men believe that local television stations, which fall under the commission’s rules because they broadcast over federally owned airwaves, are at a disadvantage when competing against cable companies and online streaming services like Comcast and Netflix." > "Loosened regulatory requirements, Sinclair executives said, will help even the playing field and benefit millions of Americans who rely on broadcast stations for news and entertainment by allowing the companies to invest in new equipment and technology." I don't watch (local) TV, but the Jon Oliver piece [1] on Sinclair was eye-opening. I understand how larger companies can invest in new technology. However, cable and broadcasting companies have historically not done this [2] because they are near monopolies (or duopolies). These deregulations make things less competitive, not more. I don't understand how conservative voters who support these moves and the magic of the free market at the same time do not see this. There's no leveling the playing field here, unless it's in the sense of bulldozing all the players out to make room for a few giants who are cooperating on some occasions to avoid competing. > “I’ve been listening carefully to what you have to say,” M

Speaking of news oulets. John Oliver had a rather eye opening piece about local news oulets in USA and centralized ownership. (Not that USA is unique in this aspect, but interesting non the less) ▶ this video

“Our democracy has been hacked.” is something that resonates with me very well. A select group of people have mastered media manipulation and are now acting as puppeteers while we are all in a state of confusion, no longer able to discern truth from disinformation. It is not classic censorship that worries me anymore. It is this constant bombardment with questionable data that we need to figure out how to battle, as it is our biggest enemy now. We need some way to get out of the disinformation bubble and be able to see the real picture. BTW this article reminded me of a great show[1] that Last Week Tonight did, about how local news outlets in US are used to manipulate the masses. [1] ▶ this video

> this is all about allowing sinclair and their right wing ilk to own local news. From 2017, "Sinclair Broadcast Group: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)": * ▶ this video "John Oliver: Sinclair Broadcasting brings 'troubling' rightwing bias to local news": * link "John Oliver: How Sinclair Broadcast Group 'Brainwashes' Local News": * link

Here's a clip from John Oliver[0] from 2017 explaining a bit on the situation. While viewership is declining, I dont think it's the main reason with the overall system changing its rules to allow fewer people to control it. 0 ▶ this video