The release of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s anti-fake news media script is being painted as an issue of political biases in media. But the real issue is in media ownership.

Sinclair, a right-leaning media company that owns 193 TV stations across the United States, issued a script for local broadcasters to read. Some Sinclair-owned stations in central New York aired the script, which prompted immediate outrage from many people who called the speech blatant propaganda for President Donald Trump and his war on fake news.

While these concerns are not baseless, their eagerness to emphasize the message as right-leaning is unwarranted.

The script itself gives no indication of a political affiliation and shouldn’t be discussed in relation to political partisanship. One part says: “Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control ‘exactly what people think.’ … This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.”

A message about the prevalence of fake news, even when it’s a view shared by a Republican president, doesn’t make it right-leaning. It’s Trump-leaning. There must be a separation of the two concepts.

Questionable media ethics are not inherently a conservative issue. Left-leaning news organizations engage in similarly questionable practices that endanger democracy.

In October 2016, CNN fired Democratic National Committee interim chair Donna Brazile from her position as a political commentator after email leaks suggested she provided Hillary Clinton’s campaign with “advance knowledge of questions to be posed to her during Democratic campaign events hosted by the news network,” according to Snopes.com.

“The real danger here is the fact that, in this day and age, you can have one gatekeeper for news and information, which is a scary thing,” said Keith Kobland, an adjunct professor of broadcast and digital journalism at Syracuse University and a media manager for SU News Services.

A properly functioning democracy allows people access to a variety of views, and this notion is threatened when companies such as Sinclair dictate what content is allowed to air. Implicit biases are a reality in news media, and they aren’t necessarily a bad thing — so long as there are options for viewers to get more than one perspective. The FCC should consider curbing the expansion of media juggernauts, like Sinclair, to ensure alternative options remain viable.  

Local news reporters don’t necessarily have the ability to slant content to appeal to Republicans or Democrats, Kobland said, because they’re out covering fires, car crashes and city hall meetings. But a scripted message such as Sinclair’s can have broader implications that could damage the public’s trust in its stations.

“If people are turned off by what Sinclair has done, then their option is to change the channel,” Kobland said.

For that reason alone, Sinclair’s message about fake news at the local level was entirely unnecessary and deserves much of the criticism it has received. Public trust in the media has been challenged amid the “fake news” era, and there was no reason for Sinclair to add fuel to the fire.

Complaining about how Sinclair’s propagating Trump’s war on “fake news” will change nothing. It’s up to the viewers to tune out these TV stations and send a message to Sinclair.

Joseph Pucciarelli is a junior public relations and history dual major. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at jjpuccia@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @JoeyPucciarelli.

Published on April 17, 2018 at 8:25 pm