With 193 television stations across the nation, Sinclair Broadcasting's influence already extends into 40 percent of American households. But the broadcast empire, which often requires its stations to air unabashed conservative content, now wants to reach fully 70 percent of households with its $3.9 billion bid to acquire Tribune Media's 42 TV stations.
This a truly frightening prospect from a media conglomerate that's already wielding enormous power in local TV markets, which polls show many Americans trust more than other news outlets. And the Trump administration appears to be serving as an ally in helping Sinclair achieve its goals. Mother Jones' Andy Kroll writes:
“The most important force shaping public opinion continues to be local, over-the-air television,” says Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a senior attorney at Georgetown’s Communications and Technology Law Clinic. “That’s the underlying premise of the FCC continuing to regulate broadcast ownership.”
But under the leadership of Ajit Pai, a Republican who joined the commission in 2012 and whom Trump elevated to chairman, the FCC has seemingly gone out of its way to grease the wheels for the Sinclair-Tribune merger, reinstating a rule from the Reagan era that could help the company avoid limits on media consolidation. “The FCC is gaming the rules to directly benefit Sinclair,” says Craig Aaron, the president of the public interest group Free Press.
If the merger is approved, Sinclair’s broadcasts will reach 72 percent of all households. Some media analysts have speculated that with Fox News reeling from cascading sexual harassment scandals, Sinclair senses an opportunity to build a rival conservative network. David Smith is reportedly eyeing a collaboration with Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House chief strategist who leads Breitbart News. There have also been reports, which Sinclair denies, that the company is pursuing the ousted Fox host Bill O’Reilly as well as Sean Hannity.
Great! Trump TV guided by the sorcery of Steve Bannon. Just what we need.
As if Sinclair wasn’t already wicked enough. The New York Times writes:
Since November 2015, Sinclair has ordered its stations to run a daily segment from a “Terrorism Alert Desk” with updates on terrorism-related news around the world. During the election campaign last year, it sent out a package that suggested in part that voters should not support Hillary Clinton because the Democratic Party was historically pro-slavery. More recently, Sinclair asked stations to run a short segment in which Scott Livingston, the company’s vice president for news, accused the national news media of publishing “fake news stories.”
And there’s more where that came from. Sinclair is exactly the type of outfit that’s doing a disservice to the national political discussion by feeding biased stories to local viewers under the guise of journalism. No wonder so many Americans have trouble distinguishing between fake news and facts.