Janine Jackson: The viral video of dozens of local newscasters from around the country, reciting identical scripts about “fake news,” is the definition of painful irony. But what Sinclair Broadcast Group, the parent company that forced the broadcasters to parrot the words, is doing, and wants to do, is no laughing matter. Sinclair’s been largely under the radar til now, though known to some as the owner that forced its stations to run a pseudo-documentary hit piece on John Kerry days before the 2004 election. The chain’s Washington bureau chief resisted, told the Baltimore Sun, “I couldn’t be part of this special and call it news, when what it is is political propaganda,” and was promptly fired.
So what does it mean that Sinclair may acquire a station in your town next? Our next guest has been immersed in things Sinclair. Pam Vogel is a research fellow at Media Matters. She joins us by phone from Washington, DC. Welcome to CounterSpin, Pam Vogel.
Pam Vogel: Thanks for having me on.
Let’s start with that video that Deadspin cut together. It’s chilling in its content. People who obviously don’t have any control over what they’re saying, talking about “free speech” and “mind control,” you know? Someone said that it looks like “hostage video,” and in a way, it almost is. People need their jobs, after all. The “must-run” is a significant part of the Sinclair way, isn’t it?
Yes, and this sort of scripted segment that’s read by local anchors isn’t necessarily typical for Sinclair. It’s a little bit of an escalation, which I think is maybe why some folks are so riled up when they see this video. It does feel very eerie and disingenuous. But in addition to a sort of scripted segment like the one in that video, Sinclair regularly mandates that all of its local TV news stations run certain types of segments that they produce nationally at their headquarters near us here in DC.
So those types of must-run segments are more regularly produced. There’s one called