NBC Nightly News actually did a story on this on Monday's show, which is highly unusual. Sinclair has now responded in a statement that I'll offer without comment. But I'm sure many here won't be so reticent. 

"Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. today responded to a series of media reports attacking the Company’s recent promotional announcement for its local news. These announcements were responding to the public’s distrust in news generally, confirmed just today by this Monmouth University poll, and spoke to our commitment to avoid such inaccurate reporting. The promos served no political agenda, and represented nothing more than an effort to differentiate our award-winning news programming from other, less reliable sources of information.
 
“We aren’t sure of the motivation for the criticism, but find it curious that we would be attacked for asking our news people to remind their audiences that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media, which result in an ill-informed public with potentially dangerous consequences,” commented Scott Livingston, Sinclair’s Senior Vice President of News.

“It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable. Our local stations keep our audiences’ trust by staying focused on fact-based reporting and clearly identifying commentary.”

Sinclair Employees Say Their Contracts Make It Too Expensive to Quit
Noncompetes, forced arbitration and a liquidated damages clause can equal 40 percent of annual salary.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-03/sinclair-employees-say-their-contracts-make-it-too-expensive-to-quit/

Last edited by g121 (April 3, 2018 4:43 pm)

This thread makes my sides shake. 

cGrant wrote:

Oh, a revolt! That'll show them. There are plenty of youngsters that will gladly take their place. And for cheaper.

Sadly, no, because:

cGrant wrote:

I don't see the point to that.  Financially, I would surmise, it would be more expensive to re-hire, retrain and re-market a station than just a mere re-brand.  
 

cGrant wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

Sadly, no, because:

cGrant wrote:

I don't see the point to that.  Financially, I would surmise, it would be more expensive to re-hire, retrain and re-market a station than just a mere re-brand.  
 

Nice try. But, context is key. I wrote "RE-hire, REtrain". That denotes hiring and training those that ALREADY have worked there. But, my second comment implied hiring and training NEW personnel.
 

Is there some law in the States that says that when a station goes dark, the replacement MUST hire people who used to work there first before considering anyone else? 
 

ONEIL wrote:

cGrant wrote:

How is this any different than what happens up here in the (not so) Great White North?

It's obvious how it's different to most people. You like to just complain. 
Sinclair in 2004 forced it's affiliates to aired John Kerry propaganda. Also Sinclair branded "inflammatory Terrorism Alerts" - there was no national terror alert...they create their own.
Truth in journalism is fighting gale force headwinds. Democracy will not survive if ignorance becomes currency.

 

You mean when John Kerry committed treason? The only ignorance here is you. Maybe CNN should have stood up to say they are real journalists when wikileaks unveiled their part in sabotage of the Democrat Primary when they were caught handing Clinton debate questions. Then again, I won't hold my breath waiting for you to wake up, O'Neil. I guess I'm team Kowch now...

On April 11th, 12 U.S. Senators called on the FCC to investigate Sinclair Broadcasting for "deliberately distorting news" and "engaging in a systematic news operation that seeks to undermine the freedom of the press."

Guess the U.S. Senators are saying Sinclair Broadcasting has gone from breaking news to breaking the news.

Last edited by betaylored (April 13, 2018 6:52 pm)

It's been a while since this was a hot topic here, but the final (?) word is that the deal is off - and to no one's surprise, the lawsuits are on. 

Tribune Media Sues Sinclair, Terminates Merger Agreement