When is local TV not really local? According to reporting by ThinkProgress, Sinclair Broadcast Group provides its stations with content that each station is required to run as part of its local news programming. The content is referred to as “must run” material. The stations do not identify the programming as having been provided by their corporate owner and thus this material appears to be from the local station itself. Deadspin recently posted a video that dramatically showcased this practice. How does this shady policy shape public perception? Here’s John Oliver in a segment from late last year after Sinclair had announced its plan to acquire Tribune Media. He expertly and hilariously points out the deceptive nature and pernicious consequences of this practice. [NSFW – language]
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Rich Kacmar
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Here’s the real kicker: Sinclair goes on the defense. Scott Livingston, Sinclair’s senior vice president of news, told The Baltimore Sun in an email statement, “Some other false stories, like the fake ‘Pizzagate’ story (a conspiracy theory that also gained arose prior to the 2016 election), can result in dangerous consequences.”
How fascinating that Scott Livingston would cite Pizzagate as an example of fake news, when that story was never perpetuated by legitimate news organizations, but by Trump’s base and conspiracy websites hoping to discredit Hillary Clinton.
I spent four years getting my degree at the West Virginia University School of Journalism, and I was a news reporter for many years. No one I knew in the business created “fake news,” as Trump likes to call it. The standards we were held to were attribution, accuracy, and accountability.