Turmoil inside KOMO News as conservative owner Sinclair mandates talking points

[brooklynite]

Source: Seattle Times

Amid a national outcry over Sinclair Broadcasting and its mandate to insert conservative talking points on local TV news, several journalists at KOMO News — Sinclair’s Seattle-area station — describe a newsroom in turmoil. Some staffers have reached a breaking point and have discussed protesting their corporate bosses, or plan to leave as soon as they can.

...snip...

Several KOMO employees said anchors at the station had met to discuss a protest when word came down last month about the “fake news” script Sinclair mandated they read. But those talks fizzled, and every anchor at the station eventually recorded versions of the segment, like at most other Sinclair stations across the country.

Any concerned journalists there face a quandary: Quit now — which could result in huge financial penalties for breaking their contracts — or make plans to move on as soon as their deals end.

Tensions escalated at a newsroom-wide meeting Monday afternoon, when staffers pushed back against the corporate edicts. But they were reminded that those who disagreed with the station’s direction could quit, according to employees who attended.

Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/tv/turmoil-inside-komo-news-as-conservative-owner-sinclair-mandates-talking-points/?utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning+Brief+4-3-18_4_3_2018

[durablend]

1. Damned if they do, damned if they don't

Either stay and parrot the company line or quit and they *will* find people that will parrot the company line.

[jalan48]

2. Unless we can figure out a way to counter the corporate media we are in for some

difficult times ahead. Sinclair is in the news today but, like Trump, will become normalized over time. How can we create a "left" media that is big enough to compete with groups like Fox, Sinclair, etc?

[aggiesal]

6. Tried it in San Diego ...

All we got was resistance at every level.
Everyone wanted it. But nobody would supply names of potential
millionaire/billionaire investors for fear of losing the contact.

We were able to raise over $2 Million of the $6 Million needed
to fund the station for 3 years until profitable. We had a solid
business plan.

We had a border blaster (25 MW) radio antenna ready to go
in Mexico (We could hear the signal as far north as westwood-UCLA area).
A right wing religious group took the antenna when we couldn't come up
with the money by the date the owner of the antenna gave us.

[jalan48]

8. I'm sorry to hear that. Perhaps it will have to be smaller, pirate stations that will be needed to

counter the mainstream propaganda. Or, access to media that originates outside the US.I'm not optimistic about the future of media in the US.

[aggiesal]

21. The progressives here in SD ...

decided to do a community based radio station.
The problem is, it's community based.
- No advertisers (so money has to come from donors)
- Small footprint (usually around 2 miles, if you're lucky maybe 10 miles).
- Small audience
I don't even try to listen to it, because I know I can't hear it.
Very disappointing.

[jalan48]

26. It's a challenge to come up with an alternative. I'm not sure what it is but I think depending on

big, corporate media to save us from this propagandizing is not a reliable option.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. "We had a border blaster (25 MW) radio antenna ready to go in Mexico...."

25 megawatts sounds rather high. As in, (figuratively) it would peel the paint off of cars parked within a quarter-mile. Maybe 250 kilowatts? Even XERA-AM topped out at 500kW (or, claimed, 1MW). I'm not sure what the limits are for FM broadcasting in Mexico.

Border blaster
....

Coahuila

Ciudad Acuña

• XERA: In September 1935 Brinkley gained a new license for Villa Acuña from the Government of Mexico with new call letters of XERA. His new operating company was Cía Mexicana Radiodifusora Fronteriza and the station came on the air from the same location as the old XER but with a directional antenna. His new transmitter power was 500 kW, but with his new antenna he claimed an output of 1MW. XERA called itself "the world's most powerful broadcasting station" and Variety magazine claimed that it could be heard in New York City. Following the signing of various treaties, the Government of Mexico revoked the license of XERA in the closing days of 1939.

[aggiesal]

22. Sorry, it was 25,000 Watts ...

https://radio-locator.com/info/XESURF-AM

Coverage Map
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=XESURF-AM&s=F&h=D

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Anyone notice hostage-blinking in the video compilation?

[Anon-C]

30. Yep. Thought I heard Tap Code by some of the anchors as well.

[forgotmylogin]

38. If forced to read it, couldn't they do it as badly and slowly as possible?

I could make that message take 20 minutes, and goof it up a whole lot.

[Fred Sanders]

4. The long winded and troll worthy Sinclair response was essentially "these are your marching

orders. March for fascism or quit...with 40% minimum annual pay penalty".

Fascists are bullies, as we all know.

[Iliyah]

5. McCarthyism once again.

The Fair Doctrine needs to be restored which I know is impossible right now because the GOP in congress won't do a damn thing. All of know is that the GOPs can never talk about patriotism nor freedom nor democracy.

[RainCaster]

7. Contact all the local advertisers

Tell them you won't support them any longer.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

32. Don't forget to send them a link to Deadspin's damning video:

Let them know their ad dollars are supporting a nationwide far-right propaganda effort by Sinclair. Point out how un-American such an action by a single corporation is. Tell them you will post the link on Facebook, Instagram, etc., with their name attached, if they don't reconsider their support of the station.

[Angry Dragon]

9. I see BULLIES

[infullview]

10. What if they walk out en masse

Sure, they would eventually be able to replace them, but it would take the station off the air for awhile and hurt their reputation and hit them financially.

[brooklynite]

11. You'll have jobs to offer them when they get fired?

[stonecutter357]

14. IF they get fired !

[LanternWaste]

23. They would be unable to seek employment from anyone other than who you responded to?

They would be unable to seek employment from anyone other than who you responded to?








Reduced to the absurd. Petulance. Consistence, of course, yet petulance as well. No doubt rationalized as something other than what it is.

[brooklynite]

27. Actually, yes...

Most of them are under a non-compete clause and can't switch to another TV station.

[Fred Sanders]

12. And there is the litttle problem of a 40%++ annual salary payback in their slave contracts...

Sometimes it is complicated.

[brooklynite]

36. Bloomberg: Sinclair Employees Say Their Contracts Make It Too Expensive to Quit

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210446216

[infullview]

13. This is propaganda and the opinion of the station owners.

Is there anything the owners could do if the people at the station clearly labels this message as not their own, but the the views expressed by the corporate owners - so at the very least - people would know the message is not local or the genuine feelings/opinions of the local broadcasters.

[cate94]

19. Yup

I’m sure they would try to fire the anchors for insubordination, but at least the people being forced to read this drivel would maintain their integrity.

[aggiesal]

24. Remember when ...

we had "Here is an editorial from our Station Manager", then
the station manager would spend 1-2 minutes editorializing a subject?

The following week around the same time there would be a
"Rebuttal ..." about the subject the Station Manager spoke about,
from some local expert on the subject?

This was all a part of the "Fairness Doctrine". Remember that?

All that disappeared, and we now have what we are discussing today.

There are those of us on the left, that don't believe the fairness doctrine
would help, even if we got it back. I'm not one of them.

We need it, and the FCC should be able to strip the broadcasting license
from anyone who is not broadcasting for the public good or outright lying.

Those licenses are given out in our name and should be used to benefit
everyone, not just the owners of the media outlets.

[mwooldri]

39. I know what the fairness doctrine is.

It still exists. Just not in America.

Even the likes of Fox "News" channel have had their knuckles wrapped by the UK broadcast regulator when they aired a report critical of the BBC, and did not invite the BBC to respond.

But FNC is no longer available in the UK due to low viewership. Waste of a satellite transponder indeed.

[0rganism]

25. read the script "straight" while wearing mickey mouse ears

maybe have a chest of "special costumes" set aside for their very extra most sincere readings

[infullview]

40. they could put on a pinocchio nose

It gets longer and longer.....

[dchill]

15. 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!'

Howard Beale

[Lucky Luciano]

16. read it sarcastically with big eye rolls. nt

[efhmc]

17. I was thinking the same thing. Harumps and small chuckles, etc.

nt

[Roland99]

20. Or read it very very quietly. Or very very fast. Like those disclaimers in drug ads

[muntrv]

29. Too bad the reporters cannot do this (USS Pueblo 1968).

[muntrv]

33. Read it like Ted Baxter from Mary Tyler Moore show.

[muntrv]

28. Hope this happens to Sinclair.

[AllyCat]

31. State-run media. Remember when we criticized TASS news

For being state-run? Back in the USSR days?

[jberryhill]

34. If you are aware of a prostitution ring in Seattle

KOMO takes news tips via [e-mail]

[LiberalLovinLug]

35. Can anyone even imagine the scenerio if George Soros bought 76% of local stations

And then demanded they run a 'liberal' talking point segment written by him?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

37. Required Reading: Inside KOMO's Battle with Sinclair

Required Reading: Inside KOMO's Battle with Sinclair

by Katie Herzog • Apr 3, 2018 at 10:57 am

The great business reporter/tweeter Mike Rosenberg has a must-read today up at the Seattle Times about the strife between local broadcaster KOMO and its parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The back story, if it hasn't penetrated your feeds yet: Sinclair, a hyper conservative media giant run by the Smith family out of Baltimore, owns KOMO as well as nearly 200 other local TV stations across the US. In addition to forcing these stations to air pro-Trump segments called "must-runs" veiled as news, Sinclair recently also required station anchors to read an extremely creepy script parroting Trump's talking points about fake news. Deadspin put a montage together of dozens of anchors reading the script as though they were in a hostage situation. It's worth a click.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

In addition to this mess, the Republican-led FCC is currently considering a nearly $4 billion bid from Sinclair to buy Tribune Media, which would then beam Sinclair propaganda into 73 percent of US households, including another station in Seattle, Fox's Q13. (Yesterday, I called for a boycott of Sinclair advertisers. More on that later today.)

Anyway, Rosenberg spoke to a bunch of KOMO insiders Monday after a meeting between staffers and management, and it sounds... tense. "Some staffers have reached a breaking point and have discussed protesting their corporate bosses," Rosenberg writes, "or plan to leave as soon as they can."

[Blue_Tires]

41. In the old days nobody would have ever gone along with this

But today folks in broadcast news are so grateful to even HAVE a job that they're really easy to manipulate...