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Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

nytimes.com

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

#141

Post by wanderer2323 »

nitrogen wrote: post #88
meri_dian wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that any different from major news organizations like CNN with a national reach clearly pushing biased anti-Trump news constantly? It's funny: Trump attacks CNN for being fake, biased news, then CNN responds by focusing all of their negative reporting on Trump, becoming exactly what Trump says they are. People would have had much more respect for CNN if they had stuck to the middle path in the face of Trump's…

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.

That's not derailing, you are trying to split hairs to stifle discussion. Global media is pretty clearly biased against the current administration. It seems that Sinclair is the asymmetrical response. Discussing them in the larger context of the US news is completely valid.

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

#142

Post by macintux »

ModernMech wrote: post #134
macintux wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The journalism job market ain't what it used to be. I find it hard to label people trying to keep their family fed and housed as "gutless cowards."

The problem is your excuse is used to justify any action all the way down to killing Jews in a gas chamber. "I was just doing as I was told" Sure no one is being gassed here, bit this seems pretty subversive. I have a family to feed too, we all do, but I also chose my line of work so that I'm comfortable saying "No" to the boss (and have had to quit because of this in the past).

Slippery slope is not a compelling argument.

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

#143

Post by jvagner »

meri_dian wrote: post #126
Bud wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

...which is different than dictating.

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

#144

Post by CivilEngineer »

nsxwolf wrote: post #12

This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

I'm not so sure. It really could just be a symptom of the fact that it's hard to make money on local news, because people get their news elsewhere now, so costs have be be kept low. This means getting stories from news services, and automating as much as possible.

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

#145

Post by digitaltrees »

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…

Your definition of free press ignores the impact of government involvement in the press and preferential treatment it confers on specific organizations. Where the government favors one media/press organization and gives preferential treatment, every non-preferred media outlet is less free because they are constrained in ways the preferred outlet is not.

You're right it's not inherently virtuous to go against the Government's views. But it is inherently bad to push government views in exchange for preferential treatment which is what appears to be happening here and with the National Enquirer.

If you are concerned about a free press, you should be equally concerned about the commingling of government and press such that the government captures certain media properties and converts them to state run media. Free press means a separation of government and press; any governmental involvement damages a free press.

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

#146

Post by ModernMech »

wu-ikkyu wrote: post #110
macintux wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which, again: Phil Donahue was not a news anchor.

Did he discuss news and current events on a television show? If so he can be called a news anchor, or a news presenter. Why are you stressing the semantics if not only to euphemize? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_presenter

It might be due to Fox News getting out of a lawsuit by claiming what they broadcast isn't news but entertainment (at least in the prime time slots)

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

#147

Post by CivilEngineer »

eligundry wrote: post #58
rhacker wrote: post #31

Seems like we need to get more people cord-cut immediately...

Youtube recommends far more dangerous stuff.

This is a very good point. Anyone who gets "news" from what's big on YouTube would be severely lacking in diverse points of view.

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

#148

Post by bradleyankrom »

robotrout wrote: post #83
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.

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.

Also, Ds have tried to work directly with Trump to secure a solution for DACA and areas of agreement have been blown up every time by the Stephen Miller/John Kelly faction of the administration. The reality is that there will never be a DACA "compromise" or solution, other than complete dissolution and further ramping up of deportations, while Miller & Co. are in the WH.

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

#149

Post by elsonrodriguez »

uptown wrote: post #135
rhapsodic wrote: post #93

Those news anchors were either OK with the contents of the script they were ordered to read, or they were gutless cowards for not resigning or allowing themselves to be fired.

Here's some context around the provisions of the contracts these anchors frequently work under: https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/status/980800914423406592 https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/status/980811757726810112 Essentially, if they were to chose to leave, they'd owe 40% of their base pay prorated by the remainder of their contract, as-well as the potential requirement to return some bonuses received. Vacation days a…

You have to almost admire the design of such a contract. The history behind how this spread throughout the local news industry has to be super interesting.

The conspiracy theorist in me feels that the chilling effect this would have on the independence of news anchors was intentional.

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

#150

Post by bradleyankrom »

Bud wrote: post #121
meri_dian wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

also, Mexico was gonna pay for it, 'member?
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