Sinclair Broadcast Group: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

What Hacker News said

Strong rec ShamelessC · 2020-07 · on “Local TV set to air discredited 'Plandemic' researcher's conspiracy theory”

John Oliver did a good bit on them on Last Week Tonight, including dozens of supposedly local news stations repeating the exact same Sinclair script verbatim. Highly recommend. [this video]

Recommends CuriousSkeptic · 2017-07 · on “Hackers Are Targeting Nuclear Facilities, Homeland Security Dept. And F.B.I. Say”

Speaking of news oulets. John Oliver had a rather eye opening piece about local news oulets in USA and centralized ownership. (Not that USA is unique in this aspect, but interesting non the less) [this video]

Recommends crypt1d · 2017-07 · on “Al Gore: 'The rich have subverted all reason'”

“Our democracy has been hacked.” is something that resonates with me very well. A select group of people have mastered media manipulation and are now acting as puppeteers while we are all in a state of confusion, no longer able to discern truth from disinformation. It is not classic censorship that worries me anymore. It is this constant bombardment with questionable data that we need to figure out how to battle, as it is our biggest enemy now. We need some way to get out of the disinformation bubble and be able to see the real picture. BTW this article reminded me of a great show[1] that Last Week Tonight did, about how local news outlets in US are used to manipulate the masses. [1] [this video]

Recommends ddebernardy · 2017-08 · on “Most Trusted News Sources”

John Oliver had an interesting show on this a few weeks ago: [this video] TL;DR version would be: the Sinclair group is collecting local TV news channels, and their editorial line isn't exactly neutral.

Recommends 0xfeba · 2017-08 · on “How a Conservative TV Giant Is Ridding Itself of Regulation”

From the article: > "The moves, which include easing a cap on how many stations a broadcaster can own, have opened up lucrative opportunities for Mr. Smith, among them a $3.9 billion bid to buy Tribune Media, another large owner of stations." > "Associates say both men believe that local television stations, which fall under the commission’s rules because they broadcast over federally owned airwaves, are at a disadvantage when competing against cable companies and online streaming services like Comcast and Netflix." > "Loosened regulatory requirements, Sinclair executives said, will help even the playing field and benefit millions of Americans who rely on broadcast stations for news and ente

Recommends analogmemory · 2018-04 · on “Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script”

Last Week Tonight (John Oliver) dove into this last year. It's really frustrating that they can leverage so much political sway under the cover of "news reporting". Then forcing news stations to broadcast this garbage. [this video]

Recommends bonniemuffin · 2019-06 · on “TV meteorologist objected to management’s ‘code red’ orders”

Sinclair media owns most local TV stations in the US and uses them to shape public discourse in less-than-ethical ways. I think when local news has gotten as consolidated as it is, it ought to have some kind of obligation to the public, and shouldn't be able to hide behind "it's a private company" to justify bad behavior. John Oliver did an informative bit on Sinclair: [this video]

Recommends ceejayoz · 2019-07 · on “Seattle Faces Backlash After Easing on Crimes Involving Mental Illness”

If anyone wants more info, there's a John Oliver segment on how Sinclair does this. [this video] They require local stations to play pre-recorded, "must run" commentary, as well as requiring their anchors to recite a script accusing other news outlets of running "fake news". [LINK]