WJAR Channel 10, is the most watched television station in the State of Rhode Island. Channel 10 was purchased by Sinclair Broadcasting in 2014. Sinclair has 174 affiliates and requires them to air a certain number of “must run" segments along with the local news. That's not going down too well with the locals in this particular market. The Providence Journal:
Three of the segments have rattled viewers and WJAR’s own news reporters, according to Fletcher Fischer, the business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1228, the union that represents broadcast workers there:
‒ The Terrorism Alert Desk, advertised as a daily news update about terrorist activity.
‒ News pieces from Epshteyn, Sinclair’s chief political analyst.
‒ A clearly labeled opinion show featuring Mark Hyman, a former vice president of the company.
Rep. David N. Cicilline condemned the practice, saying: “Rhode Islanders rely on our local news being produced in Rhode Island, not directed by a national conglomerate for local broadcasters to deliver.”
Sinclair Broadcasting has a goal of “doing for local news what Fox Television did for national news.” Sinclair plans to acquire Tribune Broadcasting in May, 2018. If that deal goes through and there’s no reason to assume it won’t, Sinclair will gain 42 new stations, many in major markets, reaching 72% of television-owning households in the country.
The article goes on to describe how a viewer named Gloria Crist did a little grass roots activism.
Crist, who calls herself a “very progressive liberal,” said this [Boris Epshteyn and Hyman being anchors] makes her skeptical about the autonomy of “Southern New England’s News Leader,” as WJAR Channel 10 bills itself. She said she was shocked when she watched a “Behind the Headlines” commentary segment featuring Hyman in January. The “offensive” piece on hate crimes prompted her to write in and complain. In an email, she asked the station’s general manager, Vic Vetters: “Is WJAR going the way of Fox News?”
Crist wasn't alone in her complaint and General Manager Vetters began referring questions about Sinclair’s programming to Sinclair management. Sinclair emailed Vetters a vague general statement saying that the content in question “contributes not only to the quantity and quality of information available to local viewers around the country, but adds to the diversity of viewpoints on national issues by providing a new voice in addition [to] broadcast networks, which currently dominate the national broadcast news offerings in most local markets.”
The “new voice" is losing listeners. One woman in particular complained about the Terrorism Alert Desk, which reports on terrorism, whether there is any or not.
The Terrorism Alert Desk’s updates, even in the absence of any real terrorism-related events, is scary for some, said Moni Chea, a 32-year-old Providence woman who works in a nursing clinic. Chea’s 85-year-old grandmother fled conflict in Cambodia and now lives in Portland, Maine, where Sinclair owns a local station.
“It’s very captivating. She hears the music and it sounds very important. I try to tell her it’s just an update about national security, but she worries,” said Chea. “She fled a war. For her, terrorism — that’s her biggest fear.”
Chea, who watched Channel 10 for the seven years she’s lived in Rhode Island, recently switched stations, she said.
Boris Epshteyn has the title of political analyst at Sinclair and he's not particularly liked in the Ocean State.
The 34-year-old is being questioned by Congress as part of the investigation into the campaign’s dealings with Russia. And Politico reports that Epshteyn, a Russian Jewish immigrant, penned President Donald Trump’s controversial Holocaust Memorial statement in January that did not mention Jews. After reports that Epshteyn got into a yelling match with a Fox News booker after a tense appearance on the network, and offended network bookers and contributors across Washington, he left the Trump administration and Sinclair hired him.
Now, on “Bottom Line with Boris,” he delivers the same message in his “chief political analyst” role that he offered journalists on CNN, MSNBC, Fox and others as a Trump surrogate during the campaign.
Their assessment of Epsteyn is far too generous. You’ve got to watch this segment of “Bottom Line with Boris,” dealing with voter fraud. If there was ever any doubt in your mind as to what state run propaganda would look and sound like, this will confirm your worst fears. This is a contagion that cannot be allowed to spread. It would appear that the cure is grass roots activism at the local level -- but didn't we know that already?
Lastly, here's a great clip from John Oliver about Sinclair, if you missed it when it came out.