The most significant donation record of any media owner was Michael Bloomberg, who donated $140 million during his run for president. Epshteyn reliably parrots the White House's point of view on most issues. Even his wife, Clare Boothe Luce, herself a Republican member of Congress, chastised him publicly for his relentless coverage in Time of Barry Goldwaters GOP nomination for president. Media consolidation takes toll on local news but doesn't necessarily We tracked media owners' political donations: Here's what we found It is intended to be the backbone of our civilization and functioning governance. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. was founded in 1986, went public in 1995 and is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol SBGI. 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. Sinclairs interest in funding political campaigns extended to soliciting PAC money in January from its news directors, the Washington Post reported in February. THE HILL 1625 K STREET, NW SUITE 900 WASHINGTON DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 TEL | 202-628-8503 FAX. Prior to joining The White House, Mr. Epshteyn served as Communications Director for the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee. Sinclair Broadcast Group raised $37,024 in the 2019-2020 election cycle. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, During one of the Carson interviews, Sinclair managers provided questions for local- station reporters to ask, such as Dr. Sinclair Media Networks (SMN) is the division of Sinclair that reaches the companys entire broadcast audience across its national footprint. That has included its refusal to broadcast an episode of Nightline devoted to reciting the names of every member of the military killed in action in Iraq in 2004, and air[ing] parts of a documentary critical of the anti-Vietnam War activities of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry. Sinclair gave a disproportionate amount of neutral or favorable coverage to Trump during the campaign while often casting Clinton in an unfavorable light. 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. Through an editorial edict, the company mandated anchors at its 193 local TV stations to . He also said Sinclair stations all over the country reported that the FBI may have had a personal vendetta against Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn, aired anti-Clinton segments before the 2016 election, framed questions of the day for viewers in a pro-Trump fashion, and suggested issues regarding Islam somehow relate to terrorism. But specific instruction isnt needed. The countrys largest owner of local TV stations, the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which reaches over a third of homes across the nation, wants to get even bigger by merging with the Tribune Media Company. Top Sinclair officials have also helped fuel both Republican and Democratic campaigns, of late. Time Warner, CNNs parent company, switches from donating to one side or the other: its PAC gave more money to federal-level Democrats during six out of past 10 election cycles. What will he do specifically to help employment among African Americans?, Mark Hyman a Sinclair executive and conservative commentator who appears on Sinclair stations regularly criticized Clinton or highlighted positions favorable to Trump in his on-air commentaries. James Murdoch, who left the family Fox News business, donated over $2.25 million. Sinclair's size, rightwing politics and close connections to Donald Trump's White House are starting to attract attention. Only 60 people in media leadership had donated more than$2,000 to a political candidate since 2019. TheCenter for Public Integrityis a nonprofit investigative news organization focused on inequality in the U.S. We do not accept advertising or charge people to read our work. Romneys record received less scrutiny. Washington, For context, OpenSecrets reported that political spending in the 2020 election reached $14 billion, the most expensive election ever. The message includes a disclaimer that donations are voluntary, and that employees will not be punished for not donating. 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. We do not believe these journalists are incompetent, so we are left to conclude that they are biased. Farris Wilks, investor in the Daily Wire, gave $416,800 to Trump Victory and Club for Growth Action. It is nearly impossible to know where the money is spent,even if you can run down the roster of donors. In the Lyon and Grenoble metropolitan areas, and the Haute-Savoie department, INRAE units contribute to research activities at the Lyon-Saint-Etienne, Grenoble-Alpes, and Savoie Mont Blanc . A Sinclair executive lashed out at criticism of Sinclair in an internal memo, according to Politico. Become a part of our family today. Trump tweeted Monday that it was funny to watch Fake News Networks criticizing Sinclair for being biased. 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. On May 8, CNN reported that Sinclair Broadcast Group, Americas biggest owner of local TV stations, has agreed to buy Tribune Media for $43.50 per share, valuing the deal at $3.9 billion. CNN also noted that Tribune operates dozens of TV stations across the country, and has a cable channel, WGN America; a 32% stake in the CareerBuilder web site; and a 31% stake in the Food Network. [CNN.com, 5/8/17]. 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. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour.
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