Media Wars: Sinclair Calls Out CNN For Hypocrisy

Still screenshot from Sinclair video

Sinclair Broadcasting released a video on Tuesday that accuses CNN’s Brian Stelter of dishonesty and hypocrisy for his recent attacks on the company amid controversy over Sinclair anchors being asked to read a scripted warning about fake news.

According to Fox News, the video, “Did CNN attack Sinclair for doing exactly what CNN has done for years?,” is a slickly produced, four-minute montage that calls out Stelter for using rhetoric similar to what Sinclair has come under fire for giving its anchors.

Stelter, CNN’s senior media correspondent, has devoted significant coverage to a minute-long script that Sinclair management asked its anchors to read in an effort to combat false and misleading news. Liberal website Deadspin did a mashup of many versions of the Sinclair bit, culminating in numerous anchors saying: “This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.”


CNN and other news organizations have condemned the script, painting Sinclair as unobjectively pro-Donald Trump. Stelter even seemed to relish how a Sinclair producer in Nebraska resigned over the script.

However, many watchdogs noticed that the controversial Sinclair script sounded an awful lot like something Stelter would utter on CNN, where he is known to sing the praises of the journalism industry.



When reached for comment, Stelter provided Fox News with the following statement: “There's a huge difference between my coverage and Sinclair's mandatory promos. No one tells me what to say. But these anchors were told exactly what to say. These promos became a story because Sinclair staffers spoke up and said they were uncomfortable. They said they'd never seen anything like this before.”