Sinclair's Forcing Must-Run Propaganda on Local Stations Means the FCC Must Reject the Tribune Merger

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Free Press filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission explaining that Sinclair’s widespread use of “must-run” commentaries is part of a destructive consolidation strategy, which results in dwindling local news coverage, fewer independent voices, and covert political propaganda that leaves its audiences feeling duped.

The filing supports Free Press’ formal petition to deny the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media Company. That petition seeks to halt the transfer of broadcast licenses that would give Sinclair control of more than 233 local TV stations reaching 72 percent of the country’s population, far in excess of congressional and FCC limits on national and local media ownership.

In Tuesday’s filing Free Press shows once more that must-runs — like the segment recently exposed by Deadspin in a viral video of more than 40 Sinclair station anchors reading the same scripted promo echoing Trump administration talking points — are particularly threatening to localism concerns as they directly supersede local journalists’ editorial control over broadcast stations.

Since Deadspin published the video, Free Press has collected additional signatures from more than 16,000 members roundly condemning Sinclair’s deceptive must-run practices.

“Sinclair’s acquisition model is geared towards achieving massive economies of scale and cutting newsroom costs rather than investing in communities or competing to best serve the public,” wrote Free Press Policy Analyst Dana Floberg. “With Sinclair’s long history of using mergers to abandon localism and diversity in this way, the Commission must deny Sinclair’s proposed acquisition here if it intends to uphold its own public interest goals of promoting localism and diversity in broadcasting.”

A recent study conducted at Emory University found that Sinclair-owned stations spend about 30 percent less time on local politics than other stations do in the same markets. The same study reports that when a station is acquired by Sinclair, on average, it reduces its local politics coverage by more than 10 percent. Following Sinclair’s purchase of Bonten Media stations in 2017, those stations saw a 25 percent increase in their national political coverage, largely at the expense of local coverage. In addition, newly-acquired Sinclair stations shifted further to the right in ideological slant to match the tone of existing Sinclair stations.

“Many newsrooms feel trapped by Sinclair’s unquestionable corporate propaganda directives, with reporters referring to themselves as ‘frogs in the pot’ as Sinclair keeps ‘turning up the heat’ on its decision to override local editorial decisions,” writes Floberg. “The Commission must uphold its responsibility to base its decision in this docket on the record, including public input. It must consider these comments and petitions, conveying near-universal feelings of betrayal and outrage over the mockery that such practices make of allegedly local broadcasters and their responsibility to the communities they are licensed to serve.”