Sinclair Broadcasting

David Deniston Smith (born September 1, 1950) is an American businessman who is the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group(SBGI) since January 2017, having been its president and CEO from September 1990 to January 2017.[3] David Deniston Smith[4] is the son of Julian Sinclair Smith (1921–1993), founder of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Carolyn Beth Cunningham.[1] He has three brothers, Frederick, J. Duncan and Robert.[1]” Wikipedia

“Smith began his career “selling pornographic videos in Baltimore’s redlight district during the 1970s.”[5] He founded Comark Communications in 1978.[6] Smith served as the chief executive officer and president of Sinclair Television Group, Inc. from 1988 to January 2017.[7] He “built Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. into the largest owner of television stations in the U.S.,”[7] and he was profiled by the New York Times in 1998.[8] He has served as its executive chairman of SBGI since January 1, 2017. It has been reported that every news station under Sinclair’s umbrella is required to syndicate commentary that comports with its owners’ ideological views.[9] In September 2013, his shareholding in SBGI was valued at $268 million.[1] His total calculated compensation was $5,206,439 as of fiscal year 2016.[10]”

Vital: Trump has launched his own Facebook News channel and appointed an FCC Chair who approved the Sinclair-Tribune merger which is now insisting on “must-run” Trump-produced propaganda segments in 72% of American households including Democratic strongholds of Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

How Trump’s FCC aided Sinclair’s expansion Politico August 6, 2017  Use of a regulatory loophole will allow Sinclair to reach 72 percent of U.S. households after buying Tribune’s stations. By MARGARET HARDING MCGILL and JOHN HENDEL

Shareblue: “FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by Trump, used a loophole called the “UHF discount” to let Sinclair increase its portfolio of over 170 stations with 42 stations from Tribune Media. Many of the new stations, which will now be forced to air the “must-run” pro-Trump propagandasegments other Sinclair stations now broadcast, are located in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Before the Trump assist, Sinclair was not in as many large cities, with the power to target millions more Americans in states that didn’t vote for Trump in 2016.

Politico reports that “the Tribune deal would not have been viable if not for Pai’s intervention.” Without the use of the loophole, Sinclair would be constrained to the congressionally mandated cap of 39 percent reach for local station owners. In exchange for backing Trump during the campaign, Sinclair now has access to 72 percent of U.S. households for its propaganda broadcasts.

Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler slammed the move, noting, “There was funny math created to allow the count to come up to still be below 39 percent, wink wink.” Shareblue

Sinclair Deal Draws Unlikely Opponent: Conservative News Media Political Donors Put Their Money Where the Memes Are

Since November 2015, Sinclair has ordered its stations to run a daily segment from a “Terrorism Alert Desk” with updates on terrorism-related news around the world. During the election campaign last year, it sent out a package that suggested in part that voters should not support Hillary Clinton because the Democratic Party was historically pro-slavery. More recently, Sinclair asked stations to run a short segment in which Scott Livingston, the company’s vice president for news, accused the national news media of publishing “fake news stories.”

Sinclair VP of News: Announcement from KSNV News 3, Las Vegas, March 23, 2017 Video by Brian Hartley

As Sinclair prepares to expand its stable of local TV stations with a proposed acquisition of Tribune Media — which would add 42 stations to Sinclair’s 173 — advocacy groups have shown concern about the size and reach the combined company would have. Its stations would reach more than 70 percent of the nation’s households, including many of the largest markets.

Critics of the deal also cite Sinclair’s willingness to use its stations to advance a mostly right-leaning agenda. That practice has stirred wariness among some of its journalists concerned about intrusive direction from headquarters.

That is what has happened in Seattle, a progressive city where Sinclair owns the KOMO broadcast station. In interviews over the past several days, eight current and former KOMO employees described a newsroom where some have chafed at Sinclair’s programming directives, especially the must-runs, which they view as too politically tilted and occasionally of poor quality. They also cited features like a daily poll, which they believe sometimes asks leading questions.” “It is something that’s very troubling to our members,” said Dave Twedell, a business representative for the union that represents photojournalists at KOMO. “I have not found one of our members who is supportive of our company’s position.” “During the election campaign last year, it sent out a package that suggested in part that voters should not support Hillary Clinton because the Democratic Party was historically pro-slavery. More recently, Sinclair asked stations to run a short segment in which Scott Livingston, the company’s vice president for news, accused the national news media of publishing ‘fake news stories.’”