For some reason, the left and the media are losing their shirts over local news affiliates belonging to Sinclair Broadcasting reading a script asking the public to hold them accountable. John Oliver griped, Stephen Colbert whined, and Jimmy Kimmel cried.
If you’re unsure what happened, here is the video and the script (from Deadspin):
Hi, I’m(A) ____________, and I’m (B) _________________…
(B) Our greatest responsibility is to serve our [local] communities. We are extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that [station] produces.
(A) But we’re concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country. The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media.
(B) More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories … stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first.
(A) Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control “exactly what people think.” … This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.
(B) At [station] it’s our responsibility to pursue and report the truth. We understand Truth is neither politically “left nor right.” Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever.
There is someone who is upset by what occurred over the weekend: Dan “Fake News” Rather.
Rather went on Facebook and complained about reporters reading a script that he thinks was part of a nefarious plot to undermine the press and help President Donald Trump.
He opined:
“Let’s be clear, news anchors looking into [the] camera and reading a script handed down by a corporate overlord, a script meant to obscure the truth not elucidate it, isn’t journalism. It’s propaganda. It’s Orwellian. And it is on a slippery slope towards some of history’s most destructive forces. These are the means by which despots wrest power, silence dissent, and oppress the masses.
“To those who say this rhetoric is hyperbolic, I submit that attacking the press as honest brokers of information has been one of the constants of this Administration and all those who normalize it. But this is not normal. This is not how the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, that beloved First Amendment, is supposed to operate.”
First, asking the audience to hold the media accountable is not a bad thing. Second, there are plenty of fake news published by the media (eh, Dan Rather?). Third, we’re constantly told that fake news and agendas are a threat to democracy, so why is it bad that Sinclair repeated this? Fourth, factual reporting does provide the press with credibility, especially in these chaotic and hostile times.
Why the left is apoplectic about the Sinclair script is befuddling.
Meanwhile, wasn’t Dan Rather the one to report some good old-fashioned fake news?
He was terminated from his CBS anchoring post in 2004 when he ran with a false story about President George W. Bush and his service record in the Texas Air National Guard.
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