Project Part 3: Final Paper

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CAPSTONE PROJECT PART 2

Karina Babio

IDS3309

Amy Winters

Florida International University

06-20-2022

CAPSTONE PROJECT PART 2

Sinclair Broadcast Group is a major American media conglomerate that owns or operates more than 170 local television stations. In the days coming up to John Kerry's loss in the presidential election of 2004, the publication prominently considered publishing a lengthy political hit piece against him. However, the story would have been critical of Kerry and his opponent, George W. Bush. Some people have criticized Sinclair for its mixing national politics and local news. Still, in conservative circles, Sinclair is frequently praised, especially by Donald Trump, who has praised Sinclair as "much superior"1 to CNN or NBC. Sinclair has been the target of criticism for this practice. It has been validated by the broadcasting organization responsible for a statement carried on local news stations throughout the United States. After TV presenters cautioned viewers to be wary of "unsubstantiated charges that abound on social media," President Trump himself moved to Twitter to defend the organization after the first allegations were made.

As a direct consequence of the Sinclair fake news commercial, international and local media outlets, in addition to non-profit organizations, were both supportive of it while also criticizing it. The Sinclair Broadcast Group issued a warning against "fake news," which hundreds of its local broadcasters around the country were required to repeat on air. In reaction, the SAG-AFTRA, which represents tens of thousands of TV journalists, took a firm stand in opposition to the statement. When it comes to journalism, the journalists employed by the Sinclair Broadcast Group are not only very knowledgeable but also quite enthusiastic about the work that they do. Because Sinclair requested them to repeat a script for its most recent advertising campaign, several of them have been the subject of unwarranted criticism in the last few days. This criticism is based on a misunderstanding. The way Sinclair dealt with its journalists was one of the aspects of the company that drew criticism (Robb, 2018).

The words that Late Night host Jimmy Kimmel made after releasing videos on Twitter were deemed to be "extremely harmful to our democracy" by the Independent, a publication that is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Anne K. Richter said when questioned about the occurrence that it is truly about the reality that news is no longer communicated without having bias attached to it. The foundation of all news should be facts, such as who was involved, what happened, where it happened, and when. Instead, both broadcast and print media add their own views to the topics that they cover, glorifying their own perspective while penalizing those who disagree with them (Richter, 2018).

In my perspective, the worldwide and local reactions to the Sinclair fake news advertising story have more in common with one another than they do with one another when it comes to the disparities. Because of these expectations, both international society and society on a local level anticipate that national political views will be moderated. It is typical for local TV news networks to concentrate their coverage mostly on local issues (such as sports or traffic), and when they do cover national politics, they often do it from an objective point of view. Although these activities do have an effect on people's perspectives, the majority of their attention is focused on regional concerns such as criminality. The lightning-fast growth of Sinclair Broadcasting, on the other hand, calls into question the accuracy of this prognosis. Sinclair-owned television stations carry a far greater variety of national news items, each of which is analyzed and discussed from a conservative point of view. The actions of Sinclair evoke a wide variety of emotions from the general population, some of which might be defined as being political (Levendusky, 2021).

The firm was brought to the attention of the public by a video that went viral and showed news anchors from Sinclair Broadcast Group's television stations throughout the nation reading a promotional message that warned against media bias and "fake news." People who utilize social media, journalists and even employees of a Tribune station that Sinclair plans to purchase have expressed their indignation, which has prompted a pushback against the merger. According to the script that was read by a variety of news anchors and organizations in the media, "We are disturbed by an alarming growth in the amount of one-sided and irresponsible news stories in our country." The proliferation of inaccurate and biased information has flourished in recent years, thanks in large part to the rise of social media as a major communication platform.

REFERENCES

Richter, A. K. (2018, April 13). Reactions to sinclair criticism: Look in the mirror for bias (your letters). syracuse. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2018/04/reactions_to_sinclair_criticism_look_in_the_mirror_for_bias_your_letters.html

Levendusky, M. S. (2021). Americans, not partisans: Can priming American national identity reduce ... Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/web.sas.upenn.edu/dist/9/244/files/2016/10/JOP_Americans-17e7zuk.pdf

Robb, D. (2018, April 4). SAG-AFTRA blasts Sinclair's scripted "Fake news" promos. Deadline. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://deadline.com/2018/04/sag-aftra-blasts-sinclair-broadcast-group-fake-news-promos-1202358423/