As I posted a couple of days ago, one of the big targets of the left these days is Sinclair Broadcasting. Sinclair is a media conglomerate that owns over 170 television stations across the nation. They are in the process of buying Tribune Media, which owns 39 television stations. What has the left up in arms over the purchase, and trying to get the FCC to kill the deal is that it also owns the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, Sun-Sentinel, The Baltimore Sun, and several commuter tabloids. Why the left is exercised is that the Sinclair ownership is conservative and pushes a conservative editorial policy.

Recently, Sinclair directed local anchors to cut a promo from a corporate script that says:

Hi, I’m (A) ____________, and I’m (B) _________________…

(B) Our greatest responsibility is to serve our Northwest communities. We are extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that ## News 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 ## 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.

(A) But we are human and sometimes our reporting might fall short. If you believe our coverage is unfair please reach out to us by going to KOMOnews.com and clicking on CONTENT CONCERNS. We value your comments. We will respond back to you.

(B) We work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced and factual… We consider it our honor, our privilege to responsibly deliver the news every day.

(A) Thank you for watching and we appreciate your feedback.

In most places they call this a commitment to journalism. But to Sinclair’s critics it is, rightfully, a threat to their very existence because without false stories and one-sided stories CNN and MSNBC would be out of business. In fact, the statement seems like a direct counterpoint to Dan Rather’s rant on #FakeNews (hahaha, I still can’t get of the fact that anyone would let him lecture the public on the subject).

Now Dick Turban Durbin has leapt into the fray with a “How dare you, sir?” letter to the head of Sinclair.

In a November meeting with my office, Sinclair representatives repeatedly denied mandating scripted content for local news stations. In light of disturbing news reports this week, I'm calling on Sinclair to explain itself: pic.twitter.com/0s1TNTwZEv

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) April 4, 2018

Not only is Sinclair not guilty of what Durbin accuses them of, the fact that Durbin’s staff has now decided to torture language to get another meaning out if it is unimpressive. As a private citizen, Mr. Smith doesn’t really owe Durbin an answer on what his personnel and editorial policies are. He doesn’t owe him an answer for one very good reason:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Smith’s right to dictate editorial policy to his company and to require his employees adhere to it is pretty much unquestionable. In fact, the editorial pages of the WaPo and NYT work the same way.

https://twitter.com/PhilipWegmann/status/981584603461939200

I’m sure CNN will get right on defending Sinclair from Dick Durbin & CNN https://t.co/MQ5TLKvdqG

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 4, 2018

https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/981961244830781443