Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script • Hacker News Board

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#121

Post by Bud » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

meri_dian wrote: post #87

robotrout wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you watched the state of the union, you know that Trump made a proposal about DACA that was such a huge compromise to the left, that much of his base raised hell. The left refused that compromise, and refused again, when he asked for DACA and the wall to be addressed in the latest spending bill. Since he has twice been rebuffed on his compromises, he's going the other way. That seems reasonable to me.

It's sad that the congressional Democracts are so focused on damaging Trump politically that they are unwilling to compromise on border security funding to produce a permanent DACA solution. As you say, Trump gave it to them on a silver platter!

No, it is in fact not "sad" that Democrats will not allow Trump to spend billions of dollars to build an ineffectual and innately-offensive "wall" between us and one of our closest allies. There can be no "compromise" on proposals as offensive and wasteful as this.

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#122

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

creaghpatr wrote: post #111

bradleyankrom wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think very many left-of-center people would agree with your assertion that it was a "huge" compromise. They wanted tens of billions of dollars for a symbolic wall, closing of several legal immigration processes, etc. There are several DACA fixes sitting in congress but Republican leadership refuses to bring any of them up for a vote.

>They wanted tens of billions of dollars for a symbolic wall In fact the wall would have been physical, rather than 'symbolic'

[deleted]

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#123

Post by dguaraglia » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:25 PM UTC

meri_dian wrote: post #113

dguaraglia wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, for one: CNN isn't getting a sweet new FCC head honcho to shape policy to benefit them. Second: do you understand the difference between a free press and a propaganda machine, right? One goes against the government's views, the other one pushes it.

"One goes against the government's views, the other one pushes it." No, that's not it. A free press is "free" because it's unconstrained by a Government or capricious regulation, not because it "goes against the government's views". Sometimes members of a free press will support the government, other times they won't. It's not a priori virtuous to go against the Government's views. Sometimes the Government is right a…

I'd agree with you, except for this: https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-campaign-sincla...

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#124

Post by codezero » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:25 PM UTC

creaghpatr wrote: post #111

bradleyankrom wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think very many left-of-center people would agree with your assertion that it was a "huge" compromise. They wanted tens of billions of dollars for a symbolic wall, closing of several legal immigration processes, etc. There are several DACA fixes sitting in congress but Republican leadership refuses to bring any of them up for a vote.

>They wanted tens of billions of dollars for a symbolic wall In fact the wall would have been physical, rather than 'symbolic'

I believe symbolic here means that it won't actually function to deter illegal immigration, at least not proportionally to spending that money on other efforts.

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#125

Post by ChicagoDave » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:25 PM UTC

I do see this as a bad thing, but I also know that everyone under 40 gets their news from the web. The target audience for these channels are older people who don't read news online or on mobile phones.

In a way, Sinclair is becoming a TV streaming service.

I sense the badness, but I also think they run the risk of spending a lot of money on a wasted effort.

You can only influence people if they're dumb _and_ watching your news programs. Seems like a dwindling market if you ask me. People already have FOX News and they've reached their ceiling (35% of the population). Sinclair is going to run into the same demographic problem.

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#126

Post by meri_dian » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:26 PM UTC

Bud wrote: post #117

meri_dian wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CNN doesn't stand up and say "we're devoting our reporting resources to all things anti Trump, this is our bias, it's not secret". They simply report the news they choose to report. Just like Sinclair. People watch the news hoping to get an accurate depiction of reality. When only one side of a multifaceted situation is reported on, the depiction becomes distorted. It's never OK to do this, regardless of whose side y…

This actually isn't remotely comparable to what Sinclair is doing. Not remotely. I am tempted to say that you know it's not comparable and that you're simply outright lying, but I'll restrain myself, and instead just note that you're completely and outrageously incorrect. CNN is not dictating what its personnel report and it's certainly not coordinating forced fake "reporting" in unison by dozens of TV stations, or f…

"CNN is not dictating what its personnel report"

Come now, you think managers and executives at CNN are just playing board games all day?

No, they're crafting policy and setting the direction of news room reporting.

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#127

Post by digitaltrees » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:26 PM UTC

meri_dian wrote: post #95

nitrogen wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of derailing with "you too", can we focus on one thing at a time? National news programs are a separate issue from secretly biased local news.

CNN doesn't stand up and say "we're devoting our reporting resources to all things anti Trump, this is our bias, it's not secret". They simply report the news they choose to report. Just like Sinclair. People watch the news hoping to get an accurate depiction of reality. When only one side of a multifaceted situation is reported on, the depiction becomes distorted. It's never OK to do this, regardless of whose side y…

This is a more insidious problem than any one media property because the very structure of the local news organization -being small and distributed - gives them a unique credibility for most viewers because they assume that their local news team is more closely align with their local beliefs, values, and interests. People do not assume every word from a local news anchor is the exact script for the entire country.

Further, it is one thing for them to use the same script. It is entirely another thing for the script to be "you can't trust any other news outlet because they all report fake news with no research or verification. YOU CAN ONLY TRUST US". I have never seen that message on CNN. You may not like CNN's coverage of Trump, but they do not undermine every other media outlet.

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#128

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:26 PM UTC

philipodonnell wrote: post #108

It seems like the issue is a lack of competition, if I don't like what Sinclair is saying I can not watch it, but if they own all the stations then I don't have that choice. The FCC did all this while everyone was distracted with net neutrality, so even if it came up again there the FCC knows how to distract people already. I'm just not sure what I as a viewer/voter can do about except wait for the next election, and…

[deleted]

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#129

Post by thrillgore » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

thaumaturgy wrote: post #80

Trump recently took DACA off the negotiating table, announcing it in a tweet, citing a Fox News & Friends segment on 'caravans' of inbound immigrants: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration/trump-say... The President is watching this same garbage and making policy decisions based on it. Let that sink in for a moment.

What are my best and quickest options to legally expatriate out of the US?

Re: Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

#130

Post by creaghpatr » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 4:28 PM UTC

Bud wrote: post #117

meri_dian wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CNN doesn't stand up and say "we're devoting our reporting resources to all things anti Trump, this is our bias, it's not secret". They simply report the news they choose to report. Just like Sinclair. People watch the news hoping to get an accurate depiction of reality. When only one side of a multifaceted situation is reported on, the depiction becomes distorted. It's never OK to do this, regardless of whose side y…

This actually isn't remotely comparable to what Sinclair is doing. Not remotely. I am tempted to say that you know it's not comparable and that you're simply outright lying, but I'll restrain myself, and instead just note that you're completely and outrageously incorrect. CNN is not dictating what its personnel report and it's certainly not coordinating forced fake "reporting" in unison by dozens of TV stations, or f…

>I am tempted to say that you know it's not comparable and that you're simply outright lying, but I'll restrain myself, and instead just note that you're completely and outrageously incorrect.

Obvious cognitive dissonance tell right here.