FTVLive was tagged in a social media post by Sinclair’s “Full Measure” host Sharyl Attkisson:

The post then linked to this entry on Attkisson’s blog. Here is a partial screenshot of her post:

Okay, before we even get started here, let’s address a glaring issue.

FTVLive LLC is not in any way affiliated with the website News Blues. FTVLive LLC has never been affiliated with News Blues and FTVLive LLC has never written an article for News Blues.

News Blues is a website located behind a paywall and FTVLive LLC cannot access their content and have no idea what they have written on their website.

Now, that being said, we do believe that News Blues has lifted content from FTVLive.com in the past as many of our readers have told us. While we are not sure if that is what happened in the case, or if Attkisson is just confused, and thinks the two websites are related?

OK, with that out of the way, it appears that Attkisson has hired an attorney and is responding to this story that was posted on FTVLive.

Again, FTVLive LLC has no access to the news blues website and cannot respond to what they may have written about the Sinclair Reporter.

According to the post on Attkisson’s blog, her Attorney writes:

Turning to your specific false and defamatory accusations against Ms. Attkisson, they are as follows: “Sinclair also employees [sic] former CBS Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, who insiders say is a strong anti-vaxxer. One Sinclair employee wonders if Attkisson is filling the Sinclair bosses’ ears with enough anti-vax rhetoric that they are too scared to make the call on vaccines?”

The letter goes on to say:

You also juxtaposed the above clearly false accusations against Ms. Attkisson with other defamatory statements designed to convey a pre-conceived false gist that Ms. Attkisson is actively favoring your false version of her political bent over the safety of her fellow Sinclair colleagues:

1. “While the vaccine should never have become a political football, it most certainly has.”

2. “Many on the right have spoken out against the vaccine that has helped millions of people not get COVID and lessen the effects if they did.”

3. “But Sinclair, which often works as a mouthpiece for the right has been silent when it comes to making the vaccine mandatory. One Sinclair News Photographer tells FTVLive that the company is doing the bare minimum to keep the staff safe. ‘They just give us paper masks and wipe their hands of it,’ said the Shooter.”

As an initial matter, by use of her name in this context there is no doubt that the entirety of this short article is “of and concerning” Ms. Attkisson. 

Okay, first this story was not about Sharyl Attkisson. It was about Sinclair as a whole and how some inside the company feel as to how the company is and has handled the COVID pendemic.

A small snippet of the story in which Attkisson’s name was mentioned, was based on what a Sinclair employee told FTVLive.

None of the points (1,2, and 3 above) made in the first part of the story involved Sharyl Attkisson, nor were they directed at her.

Sinclair owns or runs nearly 200 media outlets across the country. In point 3 in the above post, the quote used was a quote by a Photographer that works at a Sinclair station and has for many years. The quote comes directly from the Photographer and not any other Sinclair employee, and that includes Sharyl Attkisson.

In the 9 paragraph story posted Oct. 12, 2021, Attikisson’s name was only mentioned in one paragraph and it reads like this:

“Sinclair also employees former CBS Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, who insiders say is a strong anti-vaxxer. One Sinclair employee wonders if Attkisson is filling the Sinclair bosses’ ears with enough anti-vax rhetoric that they are too scared to make the call on vaccines?”

We referred to Sharyl Attkisson only as a “former CBS Correspondent,” the “anti-vaxxer” referral was made and is attributed to “Sinclair insiders.”

FTVLive has been told by a number of Sinclair employees that they believe Attkisson to be against some vaccines.

While FTVLive LLC has not described Attkisson has an “Anti-vaxxer” there are a number of other media outlets that have seemed to suggest that Attkisson has an “anti-vaccine’ outlook.

In a July 23, 2012 story posted on Forbes.com, quoting:

“The media has been complicit in spreading some of the anti-vaccine misinformation. Sometimes it comes straight from the media itself, such as the CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who has repeatedly and persistently reported on the purported link between vaccines and autism long after such a link was widely discredited.”

In a story posted on Salon.com on January 7, 2019, quoting:

“At least one Sinclair Broadcasting station aired a segment questioning the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

WOAI-TV aired a “Full Measure” segment produced by journalist and vaccine skeptic Sharyl Attkisson, who quit CBS News after 21 years over what she perceived as liberal bias, that claimed a link between vaccines and autism.

Doctors and researchers have long complained that Attkisson presents the issue as a debatable controversy, although no scientific link between vaccines and autism has been found.

“As long as the mainstream media continues to refer to this as a ‘debate’ or ‘controversy’ and as long as they portray #antivax organizations as legitimate thoughtful or caring entities, #vaccine rates will decline and lives will be endangered #VaccinesWork,” tweeted Dr. Peter Hotez, a Baylor Univeristy professor and Axios contributor.”

In a March, 2011 story posted online, Seth Mnookin question Attkisson’s reporting. Partial screenshot below:

This subtitle from this Snopes.com story published in January of 2019 reads:

“A deep dive into some misleading statements contained in a recent “Full Measure” segment produced by Sharyl Attkisson.”

Just a quick search of Google brings up a number of stories that appear to question Attkisson’s vaccine reporting and stance and this could be where the Sinclair employees that FTVLive has talked to, have gotten their opinions on the Sinclair host. Again, FTVLive LLC did not refer to Attkisson as an “anti-vaxxer” but attributed that claim to Sinclair employees that we talked to.

According to the post on Attkisson’s blog, her attorney suggests that news blues and FTVLive LLC (again, the two sites are not related and do NOT conduct business together) issue a retraction stating this:

“despite a previous report, Sharyl Attkisson is not anti-vaccine, and it is public knowledge that she has received many vaccinations as an adult. Her reporting on vaccine and prescription drug safety has been recognized with an Emmy nomination and a nomination from the Investigative Reporters and Editors group. She has not discussed Sinclair company policy on vaccines with executives, nor has she made any attempt to sway such a policy. We regret that we did not reach out to her to fact check our story prior to publication and regret the error.”

FTVLive only attributed her vaccine stance to employees at Sinclair. As for her talking to Sinclair management about the vaccine, we did not claim that happened and have no knowledge of that happening. Also, the Sinclair employee that was cited in the story, also has no knowledge of that happening, and as stated in our report, the employee “wonders” if that happened. Neither FTVLive LLC, nor the Sinclair staffer that contacted us said it happened.

FTVLive stands by our story (we can not and will not speak for news blues) that we posted and the brief part of the piece that mention’s Attkisson. We did not claim that Attkisson is an “anti-vaxxer” and that was attributed to a number of Sinclair employees that FTVLive spoke to.

Just like Sharyl Attkisson, those employees have a right to their opinion and they shared those opinions with FTVLive.

FTVLive stands firmly behind “Freedom of the Press” and will continue to do so.

On a personal note, both Sharyl Attkisson and I worked at the same station. She worked at WTVX in the West Palm Beach market and so did I.

We did not work together at the station. I was coming into the station just as she was leaving. If I remember correctly, our time together at the station lasted just a few days.

Attkisson was just starting in her TV news career (as was I) and although she was a young Reporter, a number of people inside the station told me she was a solid Reporter.

She broke some big stories at WTVX and did a good job according to those that worked with her.