Sinclair forces pro-Trump propaganda

[Hermit-The-Prog]

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/03/05/there-no-audience-boris-epshteyns-pro-trump-propaganda-so-sinclair-forces-it-people/219554

There is no audience for Boris Epshteyn's pro-Trump propaganda, so Sinclair forces it on people

For nearly a year now, Sinclair Broadcast Group has been mandating that its local news stations air commentary segments from former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn. It’s essentially force-feeding local audiences Trump propaganda between community news and weather -- and the numbers show no one would watch it otherwise.

Sinclair is a corporate giant that owns or operates around 190 local TV news stations across the country, and it’s been quietly forcing its stations to air nationally produced right-wing spin for years. But when it hired Epshteyn, fresh from a stint in the Trump administration, to serve as its “chief political analyst,” it was only a matter of time before everyone was paying attention. Numerous media and business reporters highlighted Sinclair’s twofold plan for growing local right-wing news: using the company’s still-pending acquisition of Tribune Media stations to further expand its reach across the country (with its potentially unethical relationship with the Trump administration and its appointees paving the way), and hiring Epshteyn as a new, Trump-aligned star for “must-run” national segments.

[...]

Sinclair is forcibly creating an audience where none exists by requiring its news stations to air Epshteyn’s segments. Even though only about 25 to 50 people seem to care about his commentary enough to seek it out on YouTube, it’s still reaching about 39 percent of U.S. TV households -- and could soon reach an unprecedented 72 percent.

[...]

[BigmanPigman]

1. Fox Ruse Sinclair, Circa...PROPAGANDA!

We are in authoritarian territory here.

[rainin]

2. I wish we knew how to stop this.

We used to have laws that limited the reach of single media owners. Now, any mention of regulations results in First Amendment arguments. This seems even more important that gun control. In fact, if media were publicly owned and regulated, then we wouldn't have trouble passing legislation that 95% of Americans actually support.

[Phoenix61]

3. Monopolies were made to be broken.

Just because it's happening now doesn't mean it will survive past this administration.