Sinclair's Response to Criticism

Much of the controversy has been centered on the content of our message while in fact there is nothing political about itamp160 The message is not a political statement rather it refers to our history of fair and objective reporting that is not driven by a political agendaPut another way it is simply a message to viewers around the country from local anchors and reporters they have come to trust in their own communities assuring them that Sinclair takes great pride in our news coverage and that we strive to be fair and accurate in everything we doamp160 The message was designed for our anchors to connect with their viewers by thanking them for their trust and promising to always work diligently to bring them the facts of a story without regard for whether itamp8217s a amp8220rightamp8221 or amp8220leftamp8221 storyamp160 It was not read on Sinclair stations that do not run news or those that air a news share from another station in the marketFurther in the message we call upon our viewers to hold us to our word and let us know if they have any concerns about what we are doingThe message is printed in its entirety belowamp160 It fits perfectly with our local news brand and our daily editorial missionamp160 We are immensely proud of the hardworking journalists in this company who are committed to their local communitiesamp160 We would ask that people read the actual message and then decide for themselves and then review the attacks the bias and the uninformed reportingamp160 In our opinion the nature of the attacks reinforces the point of the messageThere has been much confusion about the term amp8220mustrunamp8221amp160 In truth we have been on the receiving end of an attack by competitors attempting to use that term in a derogatory wayamp160 But it is common industry practice to provide local and national anchors with amp8220mustrunamp8221 copyamp160 Major broadcast and national cable networks do so as wellAt Sinclair amp8220mustrunsamp8221 fall into at least two separate categories national news provided by our Washington DC news bureau and national commentary which is clearly identified as commentaryamp160 It is probably fair to say that having national resources is seen as a strong positive by our stations and our viewers and in general that viewers find our commentaries interesting even when they disagreeamp160 That is strictly an anecdotal observation but the point is local news is enhanced by the amp8220mustrunamp8221 contentamp160 Unfortunately the term does not express the positive value that our stations are enjoyingLocal news is at the heart of Sinclairamp160 As broadcasters we know that our greatest responsibility is serving our local communitiesamp160 The amp8220mustrunamp8221 story content produced by our 10person Capitol Hill bureau focuses on daily reporting on national issues of importanceamp160 But at the end of the day 95 of the content and editorial decisions are made at the local station levelamp160 This also allows the local stations to use their resources for hyperlocal coverageIt39s important to point out that all major networks ABC NBC CBS etc through their network agreements require companies like Sinclair to carry hours of network programming each dayamp160 This amp8220must carryamp8221 programming includes analysis and perspectives from people like George Stephanopoulos a cohost of Good Morning America and the host of This Week Stephen Colbert host of The Late Show and many other hosts and contributors with clear political ideologiesamp160 All Sinclair stations carry this amp8220mustrunamp8221 content each day without rebuttalConsider the timingamp160 We are in the process of closing one of the largest mergers in broadcasting history that will likely establish a greater amount of muchneeded consolidation within the television broadcast industryamp160 That means a stronger competitor in the eyes of others in the mediaMeantime we have had much feedback from viewers and advertisers thanking us for being proactive in our messagesamp160 We will continue onHere is the quotmustrunquot message at the center of the controversy printed in its entirety amp160By way of example itamp160has been customized for use at KOMO in SeattleOur greatest responsibility is to serve our Northwest communities amp160We are extremely proud of the quality balanced journalism that KOMO News producesBut weamp8217re concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible one sided news stories plaguing our country amp160The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social mediaMore alarming some media outlets publish these same fake stories amp8230 stories that just arenamp8217t true without checking facts firstUnfortunately some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control quotexactly what people thinkquot amp8230This is extremely dangerous to a democracyAt KOMO itamp8217s our responsibility to pursue and report the truth amp160We understand truth is neither politically quotleftquot nor quotrightquotamp160amp160Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility now more than everBut we are human and sometimes our reporting might fall short amp160If you believe our coverage is unfair please reach out to us by going to feedback referenceWe value your comments amp160We will respond back to youWe work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair balanced and factualamp8230 We consider it our honor our privilege to responsibly deliver the news every dayThank you for watching and we appreciate your feedbackamp160The opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleagues

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Sinclair's Response to Criticism

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Sinclair's Response to Criticism

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