Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Sinclair Memo Slams 'Biased' Media

An executive at local broadcast TV giant Sinclair defended the company and lashed out against what he called "biased" news organizations that have "an agenda to destroy our reputation" in an internal memo obtained by POLITICO.

The memo, written by Sinclair's Vice President of News Scott Livingston and sent to Sinclair station news directors, said he wants to “dispel some of the myths” being reported about the organization.

In the memo, Livingston lists out several storylines that have emerged around the Maryland-based television company and provides what he said are facts proving them false. They range from reports about their “must run” segments to morale at their Washington station WJLA.

HBO late night host John Oliver also made Sinclair and its "must run" segments the focus of a 19 minute segment earlier this month.

“[M]uch of the reporting about Sinclair in recent months has been irresponsible and much of it is just plain false,” Livingston wrote in the memo. The memo was sent to news directors who were asked to discuss the outlined issues with staffers.

Sinclair has come under fire over the past year as it has drastically increased its national footprint while pushing a more right-leaning point of view through segments it requires all of its stations to air. Those segments include commentary from former Trump White House official Boris Epshteyn as well as a "terrorism alert desk." Sinclair is also in the process of getting even bigger, as it pursues an acquisition of the local TV stations owned by Tribune Media. The family which owns the network, the Smiths, have long been supporters of Republican candidates.

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