Sinclair producer resigns over network's 'obvious bias'

Justin Simmons says he has been concerned for the past 18 months but the latest promo just went too far

A producer at a local news station owned by Sinclair Broadcasting has resigned over what he called the company's "obvious bias".

Justin Simmons of KGHI-TV in Nebraska does not have another job lined up but thought the promos all 170 local stations owned by Sinclair were forced to air was akin to "almost forcing local news anchors to lie to their viewers," he told CNN.

The Maryland-based company has been airing the adverts since last week and reportedly forced local anchors to warn viewers across the country about the dangers of "one-sided news stories plaguing our country" which are “extremely dangerous to democracy”. It appeared to be a blatant nod to the oft-repeated "fake news" insults hurled by President Donald Trump at all manner of news outlets.

Mr Simmons said in his 26 March resignation letter that he had been concerned for the past 18 months of being required to air "several segments that have made me uncomfortable". "Making the local anchors do this was a big concern for me," Mr Simmons said, adding: "I didn't go into news to give people biased information".

"Resigning seemed like the least I could do. I wish there was more," he said.

The broadcast producer had joined the station four years ago under a previous owner, but had been getting "must-run" segments or "national segments that local producers are told to air during their newscasts" since Sinclair took over ownership in 2015, CNN reported.

"Terrorism Alert Desk" is one such "must-run" and highlights various security threats for viewers across the country. It has been criticised for stoking unfounded fears in parts of the country where there are no terror threats and playing into Mr Trump's rhetoric on Islam, Muslim Americans, and immigrants.

A former Trump campaign adviser, Boris Epshteyn, is also seen on many of the "must-runs" speaking positively about the president. Mr Simmons said Mr Epshteyn is not popular enough on social media to merit him as a required segment across so many television markets.

When Sinclair management realised Mr Simmons was only airing approximately 60 per cent of the "must-runs" he said his boss "got in trouble".

After Deadspin compiled the video of all the local stations' promos and it went viral, several people on social media hit out at the local anchors for not leaving as Mr Simmons had or not refusing to record the parroted promo. However, others noted that these reporters and anchors are often under contract and as CNN reported Sinclair's contracts are "particularly onerous, with severe penalties attached". Mr Simmons was not under contract.

Sinclair said in a statement after the widespread criticism: “We aren’t sure of the motivation for the criticism, but find it curious that we would be attacked for asking our news people to remind their audiences that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media, which result in an ill-informed public with potentially dangerous consequences. It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable. Our local stations keep our audiences’ trust by staying focused on fact-based reporting and clearly identifying commentary.”

Mr Trump defended the company by saying in a tweet: "So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke [sic]."

A news director at a Sinclair-owned station in 2013, Aaron Weiss, told CNN that "the problem with what Sinclair does is, they co-opt the credibility that local anchors have built up in their communities over years and decades, and use that credibility to promote a political agenda. And that, to me, is what it so ethically inappropriate about what Sinclair does".