How Sinclair Gets Their Message Out
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Most know that Sinclair taking over the Tribune stations is not going to be good for those stations, or for broadcast as a whole.
Sinclair is far from objective when it comes to covering the news and for them, it is much more about getting their conservative message out to as many people as possible.
The left-leaning Media Matters watches the Sinclair stations, so you don't have to.
There are some interesting findings.
Like Sinclair's "Terrorism Alert Desk" that seems to not focus on Terrorism when it is done by white people.
Media Matters writes that out of 202 Terrorism Alert Desk segments in 2017 covering 500+ stories, there was only one about white nationalist terrorism. One!
Pam Vogel wrote the story for Media Matters, she says that across the country, Sinclair stations are sandwiching alarmist, xenophobic bullshit in between local weather and high school sports, creating a constant drumbeat of vague fear.
When it comes to the Alert Desk, Sinclair almost exclusively focus on stories somehow related to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or Boko Haram. When in doubt, just throw in a line about how a suspect said something Muslim-y.
Sinclair often pumps out sloppy stories that are designed to get people to be scared. And that fear is often directed at their white audience.
One sloppy story isn't going to damage public trust. But this merger will give Sinclair the chance to create an avalanche of misinformation. It seems strategically designed to keep viewers scared, isolated, and tuning in.
