Move over Fox News. Sinclair Broadcast Group has more muscle, and influences more viewers at the local level, and now their conservative owners are tossing all journalistic values aside.
Sinclair, which has faced criticism for forcing its nearly 200 local television stations to air right-leaning “must run” segments, has distributed a new two-minute commentary defending the use of tear gas on migrants at the border.
In the segment, Boris Epshteyn, the broadcaster’s chief political analyst and a former Trump White House official, argued that American authorities “had to use tear gas” on hundreds of migrants at a border crossing near San Diego on Sunday to guard against an “attempted invasion” of the United States.
“The fact of the matter is that this is an attempted invasion of our country,” Epshteyn said, echoing language that President Trump has used repeatedly to describe the caravan of Central American migrants, many of whom are seeking asylum from countries plagued by violence.
The right to apply for asylum is protected by federal law.
There is no counter-opinion offered or mandated by Sinclair to their affiliates.
The use of tear gas was criticized by many Americans as a harsh and disproportionate response.
As part of Sinclair’s notorious “must-run” coverage, Epshteyn’s commentary will now be forcibly aired, often spliced into local news coverage, on an estimated 100 Sinclair-owned or -operated news stations.
According to the iQ media database, the segment has already aired on at least two dozen Sinclair stations from Maine to Texas to Washington.
Sinclair, the largest operator of local TV stations in the country, declined to comment.
I wrote about the danger of ownership groups like Sinclair in my book Front Row Seat at the Circus.
Charles Lewis, the founder of the investigative Center for Public Integrity, said about Sinclair employees, “They are stuck with an idiosyncratic owner with its own political views and agenda. It’s a nightmarish scenario for journalists.”
Sinclair has faced criticism for pushing a conservative agenda on its member stations.
“These are local stations that advertise themselves as affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, and draw off the credibility of local anchors to present themselves as part of the community,” Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University, wrote on Twitter.
In a subsequent segment this week, Epshteyn criticized Twitter for banning the right-wing activist Laura Loomer after she called Representative-elect Ilhan Omar of Minnesota “pro-Sharia” and “anti-Jewish,” according to Mediaite.
Last year, Loomer was also banned from Uber and Lyft following several anti-Muslim tweets.
Some Sinclair employees have described the segments as one-sided and poorly made.
Last year, journalists at KOMO, a Sinclair station in Seattle, said they received reporting instructions from the company that seemed politically motivated.