Group Says Sinclair is Not Prepared to Cover Hurricanes

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Another group has stepped forward saying that the latest hurricanes show another reason why the Sinclair/Tribune deal should not go through. 

"The proposed Sinclair Broadcasting-Tribune Media merger puts local weather anchors and reporters across the country at risk of being fired due to Sinclair’s record of eliminating veteran weather anchors, reporters and resources used by newsrooms to report live and on the ground during weather events such as hurricanes, tornados, floods and snow storms," the Coalition to Save Local Media said Thursday morning in a statement.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that FCC commissioner Michael Copps said: "Too often we think in abstract or ideological terms about these huge media mergers. Harvey and Irma bring it into real-life terms — people's safety and people's lives. Let's hope the FCC can think about in in these terms, too.”

On Thursday afternoon, Sinclair released a statement in response to the organization's claims. "Sinclair recognizes the life-saving role local weather coverage plays in times of emergencies and to suggest that Sinclair would ever put the well-being of our viewers at risk by cutting local weather coverage is absurd," VP news Scott Livingston said. "Over-the-air broadcasting provides critical information during crises and we remain committed to providing this essential information to our local communities."

The company also called attention to the way Sinclair stations in the southern U.S. covered the two storms and to the $1.35 million it raised for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

The Coalition to Save Local Media, in the release, mentioned several instances of Sinclair weather cutbacks, including the case of meteorologist Norm Van Ness, who was terminated from his long-standing position at WNWO-TV in Toledo, Ohio, earlier this year as part of a wave of trimming. 

Van Ness, who now serves as chief meteorologist for an NBC affiliate in Toledo, pointed to changes in how news is consumed as an even bigger potential threat to weather coverage. "Will further consolidation cause injury to local TV weather coverage? Of course it will," Van Ness told The Hollywood Reporter in an email. "But, it was already approaching critical mass. As local TV meteorologists, our battle isn't with 'Big TV.' It's with Apple and Google."