KOMO Gives In to Sinclair Corporate

Of all the Sinclair stations in the country, KOMO in Seattle seemed to be the one station that was not willing to give into their corporate parent. 

The station often bucked the trend on the airing of Sinclair's "must run" stories handed down from corporate. 

They would run them, but they would so so in times of low viewership and tried to make it look like they were not part of the newscast. 

But now, it appears that KOMO is giving in. 

Last week, the Seattle station ran a story in their 6PM newscast about a Monmouth University poll, which found that 74 percent of those polled believed in the existence of a "Deep State" in the United States government.

President Donald Trump has blamed the Deep State for undermining his presidency, an argument echoed in the Sinclair segment by Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump adviser. 

The Sinclair segment, produced to look like a newscast, left out the fact that until they were given a definition for "Deep State," 63 percent of those polled said they were unfamiliar with the term. Once it was defined as "a group of unelected government and military officials who secretly manipulate or direct national policy," nearly 74 percent of respondents said they believed in it.
The segment was produced by Sinclair political correspondent Kristine Frazao, who before coming to Sinclair was a reporter and anchor for RT, a news network funded by the Russian government that has been described as "the Kremlin's propaganda outlet" by the Columbia Journalism Review.

Many KOMO employees view the segments as propaganda that doesn't meet the station's editorial standards, according to the Times article. In the past, they have tried to limit their exposure by scheduling them during times of low viewership.

But Wednesday's segment shows Sinclair, which currently owns or operates 193 television stations in the U.S., has succeeded in getting the must-runs on during prime time.

It appears that KOMO has finally caved. 

H/T Seattle PI

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