Sinclair Broadcast Group: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) on HackerTube: recommended by 10 Hacker News commenters across 8 separate months, 2017–2026.
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John Oliver's Last Week Tonight segment on Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of US local TV stations, and how it injects political content and scripted must-run segments into local news.
HN repeatedly points to it as the eye-opening explanation of media consolidation and scripted local news.
“Highly recommend.”
19 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
John Oliver did a good bit on them on Last Week Tonight, including dozens of supposedly local news stations repeating the exact same Sinclair script verbatim. Highly recommend. ▶ this video
in “Local TV set to air discredited 'Plandemic' researcher's conspiracy theory” · View on HN
Yeah in the US system thanks to some old competition requirements the Affiliate Network gets most of the name recognition and provides most of the prime time entertainment content (a few other content blocks), but the stations under that network have their own owners that can be more or less damaging, especially in news content, and more or less "invisible" in that maybe you only see their name in the fine print at the end of credits or copyright statements. One other notorious example is Sinclair Broadcasting [1]. Sinclair-owned stations include all of the major Affiliate Networks in the US and some of the minor ones, but are known for how much they farm politically-biased news content across their platforms, including trying to pass off editorial content as news content. (ETA: Which is to say that yeah a FOX affiliate gets entertainment programming from what is left of Rupert Murdoch's empire, but could be getting news content from all sorts of places from home-grown proper local journalism to content farms from their real owners.) [1] A humorous rant on it: ▶ this video
in “Man wearing metallic necklace dies after being sucked into MRI machine” · View on HN
All these stations are owned by the Sinclair Group, a right-wing broadcasting corporation that is eroding the editorial independence of local stations in order to run segments like these or the "terrorism alert desk" [1]. John Oliver had a great video on them: ▶ this video Also, the following quote is just utter BS, trying to draw a distinction where there is none: > Reminder: "While it is extremely dangerous to our democracy..." the US is actually a Constitutional Republic. [1]: [link]
in “Multiple local news stations say the same thing verbatim [video]” · View on HN
If anyone wants more info, there's a John Oliver segment on how Sinclair does this. ▶ this video They require local stations to play pre-recorded, "must run" commentary, as well as requiring their anchors to recite a script accusing other news outlets of running "fake news". [link]
in “Seattle Faces Backlash After Easing on Crimes Involving Mental Illness” · View on HN
Sinclair media owns most local TV stations in the US and uses them to shape public discourse in less-than-ethical ways. I think when local news has gotten as consolidated as it is, it ought to have some kind of obligation to the public, and shouldn't be able to hide behind "it's a private company" to justify bad behavior. John Oliver did an informative bit on Sinclair: ▶ this video
in “TV meteorologist objected to management’s ‘code red’ orders” · View on HN
Last Week Tonight (John Oliver) dove into this last year. It's really frustrating that they can leverage so much political sway under the cover of "news reporting". Then forcing news stations to broadcast this garbage. ▶ this video
in “Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script” · View on HN
John Oliver had an interesting show on this a few weeks ago: ▶ this video TL;DR version would be: the Sinclair group is collecting local TV news channels, and their editorial line isn't exactly neutral.
in “Most Trusted News Sources” · View on HN
From the article: > "The moves, which include easing a cap on how many stations a broadcaster can own, have opened up lucrative opportunities for Mr. Smith, among them a $3.9 billion bid to buy Tribune Media, another large owner of stations." > "Associates say both men believe that local television stations, which fall under the commission’s rules because they broadcast over federally owned airwaves, are at a disadvantage when competing against cable companies and online streaming services like Comcast and Netflix." > "Loosened regulatory requirements, Sinclair executives said, will help even the playing field and benefit millions of Americans who rely on broadcast stations for news and entertainment by allowing the companies to invest in new equipment and technology." I don't watch (local) TV, but the Jon Oliver piece [1] on Sinclair was eye-opening. I understand how larger companies can invest in new technology. However, cable and broadcasting companies have historically not done this [2] because they are near monopolies (or duopolies). These deregulations make things less competitive, not more. I don't understand how conservative voters who support these moves and the magic of the free market at the same time do not see this. There's no leveling the playing field here, unless it's in the sense of bulldozing all the players out to make room for a few giants who are cooperating on some occasions to avoid competing. > “I’ve been listening carefully to what you have to say,” M
in “How a Conservative TV Giant Is Ridding Itself of Regulation” · View on HN
Speaking of news oulets. John Oliver had a rather eye opening piece about local news oulets in USA and centralized ownership. (Not that USA is unique in this aspect, but interesting non the less) ▶ this video
in “Hackers Are Targeting Nuclear Facilities, Homeland Security Dept. And F.B.I. Say” · View on HN
“Our democracy has been hacked.” is something that resonates with me very well. A select group of people have mastered media manipulation and are now acting as puppeteers while we are all in a state of confusion, no longer able to discern truth from disinformation. It is not classic censorship that worries me anymore. It is this constant bombardment with questionable data that we need to figure out how to battle, as it is our biggest enemy now. We need some way to get out of the disinformation bubble and be able to see the real picture. BTW this article reminded me of a great show[1] that Last Week Tonight did, about how local news outlets in US are used to manipulate the masses. [1] ▶ this video
in “Al Gore: 'The rich have subverted all reason'” · View on HN
> this is all about allowing sinclair and their right wing ilk to own local news. From 2017, "Sinclair Broadcast Group: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)": * ▶ this video "John Oliver: Sinclair Broadcasting brings 'troubling' rightwing bias to local news": * [link] "John Oliver: How Sinclair Broadcast Group 'Brainwashes' Local News": * [link]
in “Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership” · View on HN
Here's a clip from John Oliver[0] from 2017 explaining a bit on the situation. While viewership is declining, I dont think it's the main reason with the overall system changing its rules to allow fewer people to control it. 0 ▶ this video
in “US agency ends 39% household cap on local TV station owners” · View on HN
Being consistent in message framing even when its not in the best interest of the public should not reasonably be considered "news" =3 [link] ▶ this video
in “Show HN: Real-time system that tracks how news spreads across 200k websites” · View on HN
Surprised there is no mention of Sinclair broadcast group. Many broadcast stations have to read from the same script provided by Sinclair. Sinclair has been criticized for their affiliation with and support of the Republican party. [link] ▶ this video
in “Why won’t US TV news say ‘climate change’?” · View on HN
The linked source is a Sinclair News outlet. They are probably the worst media conglomerate in America honestly. Their news is constant fear and I view anything by them as poisonous information because it is just as likely meant to mislead as it is to inform. Sure, KOMO publishes some real news. They also publish lies and wildly misleading stuff. [link] ▶ this video
in “King County, WA bans facial recognition software” · View on HN
A major beneficiary of the deregulatory moves, analysts say, is Sinclair, a conservative broadcasting company that is seeking to buy up Tribune Media for $3.9 billion. Sinclair requires its TV stations to air segments with a conservative bent: [link] Edit: Check out John Oliver's segment on this topic. ▶ this video
in “The FCC has repealed a 42-year-old rule blocking broadcast media mergers” · View on HN
It is not a proposal to kill entertainment media, it is a proposal to make it easier to make informative journalism. The theory being that a plurality of information sources leads to a better informed population and that if newspapers have less to worry about satisfying shareholders or advertisers, they will do a better job. I think that the most important point for the US situation is the non-concentration condition, preventing one person or company from owning several information media posing as different entities, masking the lack of plurality. It would prevent this kind of things: ▶ this video Arguably this is more a solution to the situation we have in France. In the US it looks like you have people like the Koch brothers who would not mind running newspapers at a cost to promote propaganda. It would still make it more expensive as it would have to compete against people who would have little costs and privileged access to primary sources. It does not solve all the problems of society and information though. IMO, the fact that so many Americans confuse information and entertainment is an education problem, not a media one.
in “Anatomy of a Moral Panic” · View on HN
Also relevant: ▶ this video Sinclair Broadcast Group is doing basically this already, just in a low tech way and requiring its local TV stations to promoting their political agenda.
in “Google is funding the creation of software that writes local news stories” · View on HN
The best part of that is when Sinclair's Terrorism Alert Desk ran a piece about burkinis. They require all their stations to broadcast it. ▶ this video
in “The FCC has repealed a 42-year-old rule blocking broadcast media mergers” · View on HN