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A Progressive Group Is Trying to Run This Ad Exposing Sinclair Broadcasting – on Sinclair-Owned Local Stations
Progressive consumer watchdog group Allied Progress is trying to place a six-figure ad buy on Sinclair Broadcasting stations across the country – to run anti-Sinclair ads suggesting the huge “local” news giant is “extremely dangerous to our democracy.”
That phrase comes direct from Sinclair’s own script which it forced dozens of local news network anchor teams to recite on-air in a clear attempt to support the Trump agenda.
Here’s the ad Allied Progress is working to place on Sinclair stations:
Sinclair owns nearly 200 local stations and recently forced dozens of anchors to recite the same political message – word for word. Now, it's trying to control local stations in 72% of U.S. homes. Tell the @FCC to #StopSinclair's merger with Tribune: https://t.co/UmVrzwkHKA pic.twitter.com/Ku6r6YC0qv
— Allied Progress (@AlliedProgress) April 5, 2018
Will Sinclair let it run?
Allied Progress executive director Karl Frisch tells NCRM directly this “is certainly a test” for Sinclair.
“We’ve seen the complete disregard Sinclair has for journalistic integrity. Now I guess we’ll see if the company thinks viewers have the right to know that trusted local anchors were forced to become political pawns or face termination,” Frisch told NCRM via electronic messaging Thursday.
The ad urges local viewers to contact the FCC to stop Sinclair from taking over even more stations in a $3.9 billion merger that it says would allow the media behemoth to “control local news stations in 72% of American homes.”
On its website Allied Progress says Sinclair “has never been shy about its ultimate goal: a ‘final consolidation’ of the local news industry leaving complete control over local stations in the hands of as few as two companies.”
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