For context, OpenSecrets reported that political spending in the 2020 election reached $14 billion, the most expensive election ever. Sinclair Outlet Circa News Regularly Pushes Pro-Trump Stories. While Sinclairs solicitation might raise the eyebrows of journalism purists, Ryan said there appears to be nothing legally noncompliant about the email. Marc Benioff, the current owner of Time who's, active in homelessness issues in San Francisco,gave only $5,000 to his Salesforce.com PAC. Sinclair clearly has a good campaign finance compliance lawyer, he said. Participation is completely voluntary. The broadcast company is asking that the gifts be made to the Sinclair PAC to fight deregulation efforts, andupholda Federal Communications Commission rule that allows media corporations to buy more stations, according to The Washington Post. Sinclair stations aired five such interviews with Clinton running mate Tim Kaine and two with Chelsea Clinton but none with Clinton or another top surrogate. This has most clearly come in election seasons, with stations being used to attack Democratic candidates or to boost Republicans: On the eve of the 2012 election between Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, for example, Sinclair stations in several battlegrounds states aired a corporate-produced half-hour news special that criticized Obamas handling of the economy, his signature health-care law and the administrations management of the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. [HBO, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, 7/2/17]. Discarding the original vision and replacing it with what critics claim is a stealthy emphasis on right-leaning, Trump-friendly content, Sinclair launched Circa News last July and, in recent months, has become a favorite of Sean Hannity among other Fox News personalities, along with embattled presidential son Donald Trump Jr. (a serial retweeter of Circa News stories), tendentious White House talking head Sebastian Gorka, and alt-right populist Trumpkin Mike Cernovich. Sinclair, either directly or through its venture subsidiaries, makes equity investments in strategic companies. Saying that Mr. Obamas supporters had sent 93,000 e-mails to the Sinclair broadcasting company for carrying the advertisement, Tommy, a campaign spokesman, said, Other stations that follow Sinclairs lead should expect a similar response from people who dont want the political discourse cheapened with these false, negative attacks. [The New York Times, 8/27/08], Sinclair Gave Conservative Conspiracy Theorist Sharyl Attkisson Her Own Show. ; $10,000 to Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; and more than $7,000 to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in 2017. On Wednesday, eligible Sinclair Broadcast Group employees thought to be mostly executive types received an invitation to contribute to the companys political action committee. There is no corporate pressure to participate and no consequence for not participating. If you factor in employee donations, its a different story: Time Warner workers primarily executives overwhelmingly prefer to support Democrats. I wrote about why I got a COVID shot:Then I was fired from my job. Sign up to receive our freeWatchdog email newsletter, a weekly investigation in inequality from Public Integrity. by Ashley Balcerzak, Center for Public Integrity April 3, 2018, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. The first workings began around 1820. Sinclair announced in April that it hired Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump official, as its chief political analyst. From the April 17 press release: Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is pleased to announce that Boris Epshteyn, an accomplished commentator and strategist, has joined the company as chief political analyst and will provide analysis and insight on major political stories. We now live in a much less transparent time. The Times noted that Fox News Channel and CNN declined to run the spot amid legal questions. From the August 27, 2008, article: As Senator Obamas campaign makes its argument for his candidacy before a national audience here this week, it is waging a separate, forceful campaign against a new conservative group running millions of dollars of ads linking him to the 1960s radical William Ayers Jr. Lawyers for the campaign have asked the Justice Department to investigate the group which is operating under rules governing non-profit corporations calling on television stations to cease airing the spot, and, campaign officials said, planning to pressure advertisers on stations that refuse to do so. [The New York Times, 5/3/17]. McCarthy to Russian reporter: I do not support what your country has done to Facebook privacy settlement: Who is eligible for a payment? Philip Anschutz, owner of the Washington Examiner, gave $168,500. The Msage mine is an old 19th-century iron exploitation, located on the Saint-Pierre-de-Msage territory, just at the end of the Romanche valley, 25 km south-east of Grenoble. . After yet another mass shooting, the national debate over gun policy renews. Skip to Navigation; . Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. 12% of Sinclair Broadcast Group employees are Hispanic or Latino. Where do they give money for political gain around regulation and governance? Sinclair affiliate KBOI used photos of Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson in relation to stories unrelated to him, according to Heavy. As a leading broadcast television company, our primary business is to engage consumers on multiple platforms with relevant and compelling news, entertainment and sports content, and to provide advertisers and businesses efficient means and value to connect with our mass audiences. While its not uncommon for media executives to donate to political candidates and committees, its often taboo if not against company rules altogether for working journalists to make political contributions. The message includes a disclaimer that donations are voluntary, and that employees will not be punished for not donating. The Sinclair executive referred in the email to unpopular deregulatory initiatives, undertaken by the Federal Communications Commission and chairman Ajit Pai in recent months. Analysis / Bias Sinclair has been scrutinized by multiple media outlets for consistently favoring conservative politics. The National Desk (TND) provides viewers with real-timenational news and regional stories. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. We at KBOI are very sorry. [Heavy, 7/14/17]. The anchor of the evening newscast, Laurel Staples, read a statement that said, in part, NBC Montana takes pride in reporting only verifiable facts from an independent, reliable sources., New York has learned that KECI news director Julie Weindel was called by NBC News to see if KECI would cover the story or had any footage of the Gianforte incident that NBC News and its affiliates could use. FYI. Within minutes, users angrily left comments on KBOIs Twitter page and that of McKesson. Washington, Laurene Powell Jobs donated over $2 million. They certainly have the right to do it, but its blatantly unethical.. He was vice president for corporate relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States, until 2005. In March 2018, Sinclair required all stations to air a video of local anchors reading a script decrying the "troubling trend . In the past, Sinclair hasnt shied from using its TV stations to deliver clear political messages. Sign up for our newsletter to track moneys influence on U.S. elections and public policy. contributions to federal candidates, and contributions from individual donor data, which were released by the Federal Election Commission on March 22, . The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Sinclair Broadcast Group, the country's largest operator of local television stations, is in the process of buying Tribune Media. NewsON is the nations largest aggregator of local news content. Stadiumis the ultimate destination for the modern-day sports fan. Craig Newmark has donated close to $100 million to journalism schools, content moderation research, new digital media outletsand journalists, as have Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, and big foundations like the Knight Foundation, Heritage Foundation, Open Markets Instituteand Pierre Omidyars Democracy Fund. NEW YORK The $3.9 billion buyout of Tribune Media by Sinclair collapsed Thursday, ending a bid to create a massive media juggernaut that could have rivaled the reach of Fox News. Marc Rowan at Apollo Management, the private equity firm that recently acquired Yahoo News for $5 billion, gave $1.75 million. They are doing great work, Cernovich told The Daily Beast. Sinclair Cares utilizes the strength of Sinclairs properties to uplift organizations and inspire audiences and employees to make a positive impact in their communities. The names of the super PACs (Win Red, Dirt Road, Fair Fight, Follow the North Star, Security is Strength) are almost comical, even if the totals are gobsmacking. This fake-news promo script was recently read on-air by dozens of local television newscast teams working for stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group a phenomenon Deadspin stitched into a video that this weekend went viral. [Politico, 7/18/17]. Sinclair Tripled Its Number Of Epshteyn Segments. Transparency is what journalists and journalism have long been about. ONE Media 3.0 is developing, building, and deploying the Next Generation Broadcast Platform that enables broadcasters to reimagine use of their television channels. Top Sinclair officials have also helped fuel both Republican and Democratic campaigns, of late. James Murdoch, who left the family Fox News business, donated over $2.25 million. The Bally Sports RSNs serve as the TV home to more than half of all MLB, NHL and NBA teams in the US, and produce over 4,500 live local professional telecasts each year, in addition to a wide variety of locally produced sports events and programs. According to the source, Weindel said that they werent covering the story, though it was featured in outlets across the country at the time, explaining, The person that tweeted [Jacobs] and was allegedly body slammed is a reporter for a politically biased publication. Weindel then added, You are on your own for this., A report in HuffPost reveals that the station was acquired, last month, by the conservative media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcasting. Contributions by Source of Funds Sinclair Broadcast Group Affiliates i Cycle: 2020 Showing 1 to 3 of 3 entries Contributions to 527s are not included in the Individuals, PACs, Soft (Indivs), or Soft (Orgs) columns, so the sum of these columns may not equal the Total column. Company vice presidents J. Duncan Smith and Frederick G. Smith favor Republicans, donating more than $12,000 to Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. Sinclair Hired Former Trump Aide As Political Analyst. Sinclair Executive Lashed Out At Criticism Of His Companys Conservative Bias. For The company is currently awaiting federal approval of a proposed $3.9 billion buyout of Tribune Media, which would add 42 more local television . Fox PAC also gave $30,000 each to party committees aiming to elect Democrats and Republicans to each chamber: the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, federal records indicate. Is this newly minted class of wealth really absent from politics and political influence? Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg fund swaths of lobbyists in Washington. Carson, you toured Detroit, your home town, with Donald Trump Saturday. Our system is awash in billions of political dollars. The outlet also noted that Epshteyn reliably parrots the White House's point of view on most issues in his segments, such as claiming former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on Capitol Hill was more damaging to Hillary Clinton and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch than to the president. From the July 10 article: Even while under fire for requiring its outlets to run conservative content, Sinclair Broadcast Group is increasing the must-run segments across its affiliates featuring former Trump White House official Boris Epshteyn to nine times a week, the company confirmed on Monday. Compulse is a marketing technology and managed services company built for local media and agencies. But a vast majority of their money has been funneled to Republican causes, including the Republican National Committee and a Mitt Romney fund-raising committee in 2012, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Open Secrets following the money in politics, OpenSecrets Following the money in politics. The federal government has fined TV broadcaster Sinclair $48 million, largely because of actions it took in its failed attempt to acquire smaller rival Tribune Media. Spark is a self-service advertising solution for Streaming TV. A little more than 95 percent of Sinclair's . Such omissions suggest the existence of either journalistic incompetency or editorial bias. of these columns may not equal the Total column. A spokeswoman for Sinclair declined comment on the memo, which was firstreported by FTVLive. For example, he claimed last month that former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on Capitol Hill was more damaging to Hillary Clinton and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch than to the president. Sinclair Broadcast Group is asking top executives, including news directors, to make donations to its political action committee, an unusual move that is raising concerns among media ethics experts. Smith gave $385,000 to the group in two donations, most of it in March. [M]uch of the reporting about Sinclair in recent months has been irresponsible and much of it is just plain false, Livingston wrote in the memo. 05/01/23 3:48 PM EDT, Video & Audio Before the 2004 presidential election, Sinclair drew sharp criticism, including from Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, for its refusal to broadcast an episode of Nightline devoted to reciting the names of every member of the military killed in action in Iraq. Journalists shower Hillary Clinton with campaign cash, 64 percent of Comcast PACs contributions, 60 percent of Comcasts federal-level PAC contributions, according to Center for Responsive Politics data, Pondering state reparations for tribes, a council documents history of harms, The EPA wants to broaden a ban on a deadly chemical on store shelves, Protecting peoples health in the era of global warming, How drag bans fit into larger attacks on transgender rights, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Open Secrets following the money in politics, OpenSecrets Following the money in politics. As reported by Politico, the memo claims the criticism came from biased news organizations that have an agenda to destroy our reputation. From the July 18 article: An executive at local broadcast TV giant Sinclair defended the company and lashed out against what he called biased news organizations that have an agenda to destroy our reputation in an internal memo obtained by POLITICO. Sinclair Broadcast Group employees are most likely to be members of the republican party. News stories and features favorable to Trump or that challenged Clinton were distributed to Sinclair stations on a must-run basis that is, the stations were required by managers in Washington to make room in their evening newscasts or morning programs for them. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. Investigating the systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality. 05/01/23 12:01 PM EDT, Video & Audio During 2015 and 2016, 45 percent of Fox PACs donations to candidates went to Democrats, according to Center for Responsive Politics data. Sinclair operates 185 television stations in 86 markets, including WBFF-TV, known as Fox 45, in Baltimore. Billionaire Paul Singer, who claimed, post the CNN-Discovery merger, that his activism brought the deal about, balanced things out with his $1.7 million. Did Elon Musk, one of the biggest donors to Wikipedia, reallygive only $40,000 to political leaders and causesin 2020-21? The Bloomberg, Powell Jobsand even Murdoch setups are now bizarrely comforting: At least we know where they stand, and the money is domestic. Here, theres little doubt that anyone on staff that contributes to the corporate PAC, their money will not only be used to promote Sinclairs policy preferences around broadcasting laws, but general conservative political causes and candidates.. We believe our employees knowledge, dedication, and ingenuity may lead us to newer heights. James Zelter, co-president and CIO of Apollo Global Management that owns Yahoo News, gave $35,900 to Republicansand $25,200 to Democrats. If . According to OpenSecrets, an independent nonprofit that tracks money in U.S. politics, as of last week, 2,276 groups organized as super PACs have reported their numbers. Follow the money on gun rights and gun control groups. Charles Schumer of New York and Brian Schatz of Hawaii pocketed $10,000, the most the PAC could legally give. Federal government could default as soon as June 1, Treasury Secretary Yellen warns, Get the best insights and analysis delivered to your inbox, 2,276 groups organized as super PACs have reported, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization, 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 800 What does media constitute? Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics Soft money contributions were not publicly disclosed until the 1991-92 election cycle. Sinclair has come under scrutiny for reportedly ordering local stations to run stories favorable of President Trump. And while it already reaches over a third of homes across the nation, the country's. The average employee at Sinclair Broadcast Group makes $58,204 per year. TBD is the first multiscreen TV network to bring premium internet-first content to TV homes across America. Sinclair Broadcast Group, American telecommunications conglomerate, one of the largest television-station operators in the United States. Amid growing political, legal and financial pressure, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. late Tuesday revised its plan to broadcast a documentary critical of Sen. John Kerry's anti-Vietnam war activities. See the details. However, the move breaks with the rules set in most major newsrooms, which ban journalists from making political contributions or to give to their companies PACs to help prevent a perception of bias in reporting. Eric Zinterhofer, board member of Univision, gave $102,000. Mark E. Hyman is an American political commentator and former television executive. KBOI has issued an apology on their Twitter account, reading: We messed up. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, (2000) La mine de Pierre Rousse, Commune de Vizille, Isre. is an action and adventure broadcast networkfeaturing CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, CHiPs, Knight Rider and Magnum PI. Transparency matters. Sinclair Broadcast Group. White House to end COVID-19 vaccine requirement for international travelers, Adams rebukes Texas governor for targeting cities with Black mayors to bus asylum seekers, First Republic fallout: Democrats fume as regulators bail out yet another failed bank, Yellen says drop-dead date for debt ceiling is June 1, Hunter Biden appears in court for paternity case, Big birds are having fewer chicks as climate changes, AI chatbot outperforms human doctors in responding to patient questions, Who will replace Tucker Carlson at Fox News? In the last election cycle, the brothers donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republican causes, including at least $6,000 from Frederick Smith to a super PAC supporting Mr. Trump and $20,000 from David Smith to the National Republican Congressional Committee. The lack of transparency in super PAC donations loomed as we scoured the FEC database. and our In the closing paragraphs, Livingston alleges that reporters from major media outlets are biased, and calls on them to openly disclose their political tendencies, adding that doing so would help consumers understand the agenda of the reporters and editors providing the content., What we find most troubling in the reporting about our company, by major media outlets (like the New York Times and Washington Post), is the omission of key facts in their stories, Livingston wrote. While many parent corporations that own television networks, cable news or local stations do make political contributions through their PACs, its a practice that I find troubling since the reputation of a news organization depends in part on its ability to say that it is approaching stories from an impartial vantage point, without partisan bias, said Indira Lakshmanan, the ethics chair at the Poynter Institute. Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, gave $6,000. 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Under the direction of its ambitious corporate parent, the stations news operations have taken a subtle but noticeable turn to the right. After yet another mass shooting, the national debate over gun policy renews. Please check your inbox to confirm. Located in a very diverse region rich in assets, not only geographically (relief, climate), but also economic and human, the Lyon-Grenoble Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes is the latest INRAE centre to be created. Sens. And Politico reported White House aide and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, bragged about making a deal with Sinclair: better media coverage for more access to Trump. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, gave $500,000 mostly to Democrats. Epshteyns segments are must runs, so all the Sinclair stations across the country will air them along with their other must-run segments including conservative commentary from Mark Hyman and the Terrorism Alert Desk segments. Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group was fined a record $48 million by the FCC, the agency announced Wednesday. Two-thirds of those donations went to Republicans, and only one third to Democrats. Sinclair's size, rightwing politics and close connections to Donald Trump's White House are starting to attract attention. That's how Putin wins. Cookie Notice Get a weekly dive into inequality in America with our Watchdog newsletter delivered to your inbox. They range from reports about its must run segments to morale at its Washington station WJLA. Media mogul William Randolph Hearst famously declared, This is my newspaper, these are my views, take or leave it. Hearst boldly placed his editorials on the front page, with his picture, signed for Gods sake. There was no subterfuge. Sure, Henry Luce, the iconic publisher of Time, Fortuneand Life magazines, put his thumb on the scale. 05/01/23 3:22 PM EDT, Article Common Cause is part of a coalition of groups that oppose Sinclairs pending acquisition of Tribune Media, which has been made possible by regulatory easing. USA TODAY's opinionnewsletter:Get the best insights and analysis delivered to your inbox. The segments will have a billboard, meaning theyre sponsored, but will not be sponsored content, a Sinclair spokesperson said. And last year Politico reported that the Trump campaign struck an exclusive deal with Sinclair to broadcast interviews with Trump across all of its networks, an unprecedented arrangement. Donations include 140,000 toys and truckloads of food and clothing for local communities BALTIMORE - Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) today announced the company's television stations and Bally Sports regional sports networks (RSNs) collected truckloads of items for local charities through regional holiday drives, with Sinclair's television stations and RSNs hosting local . Sinclair Releases 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance Report, Sinclair to Report First Quarter 2023 Results on May 3, 2023 at 7:30 a.m., Sinclair to Build NextGen Data Distribution Core Network, Sinclair Broadcast Group Announces Distribution Agreement with YouTube TV to Add, Sinclair Broadcast Group and ONE Media 3.0 to Participate in NAB Show, Las Vegas, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and ONE Media 3.0 Launch, Sinclair Selects AWS as its Preferred Cloud Provider, Sinclairs Project Baltimore Wins Prestigious IRE Award, Sinclair Announces Holding Company Reorganization, Major Broadcasters Launch NextGen TV on Four Local Television Stations in Des, NewsON Adds Raleigh-Durham DMA to Platform with Addition of WRAL, Sinclair Broadcast Group to Provide Production for USC Shoah Foundation to.