JUDY WOODRUFF: But first: Does it matter who owns your local TV station?
While polls shows Americans are increasingly worried about so-called fake news, they also
show that many trust their local news more than other sources.
The largest owner of local stations in the country is Sinclair Broadcasting.
A viral video of Sinclair news anchors has again raised concerns about the way in which
the company mixes news with partisan political opinion.
William Brangham updates his story about the broadcast giant that originally ran last year.
MAN: A train derailment in Tennessee.
MAN: Some routine road maintenance has led to a squabble.
WOMAN: We have some breaking news to tell you about.
This is out of Bethesda tonight.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Night after night, the country's largest owner of local TV stations, the Sinclair
Broadcast Group, reaches over a third of homes across the nation.
WOMAN: A compromise plan for the controversial Conesus Inn.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Most of us think of local news as just that, local.
Stations run local stories, produced and reported by local people.
But if, recently, you tuned in to, say, WVTV, which is Sinclair's station in Milwaukee,
you saw this:
BORIS EPSHTEYN, Former Senior Adviser, Trump Campaign: Does the president have to repeat
that fact day in and out for us to believe it?
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's Boris Epshteyn, former member of the Trump administration, and now
chief political analyst for Sinclair.
And here he was again on WEAR in Pensacola:
BORIS EPSHTEYN: The president is stating the fact that the fringes of the left and the
right...
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And on KSAS in Wichita:
BORIS EPSHTEYN: Are both capable of hate and violence doesn't mean he is condoning any
of it.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And, again and again on every single one of the 173 Sinclair stations
across the country.
Eric Lipton is a reporter for The New York Times who's been covering Sinclair.
ERIC LIPTON, The New York Times: They have what they call must-runs, which include Boris
Epshteyn, who is a surrogate for Trump, who is on the air, talking about conservative
issues.
While the local news stations largely decide what their local news is going to be, you
know, covering local government, crime and local issues, there are these must-runs that
go on their networks across the United States, which have a decidedly conservative flavor.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This partisan tilt has many free speech advocates alarmed, because not
only does Sinclair own such a large chunk of the marketplace already, but it's hoping
to get bigger still.
If a proposed $4 billion merger with Tribune Media goes forward, Sinclair would now reach
three out of four American households.
Journalism professor Lewis Friedland:
LEWIS FRIEDLAND, University of Milwaukee-Madison: It is a real step in a very different direction
to begin to say the most trusted news source of most Americans is going to be allowed to
be turned into an opinion organization, an opinion machine for a very narrow, narrowly
conservative point of view night after night in local communities.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Television remains the main source of news for many Americans.
In 2016, 46 percent of adults said they got their news from local TV stations.
And it's information they trust; 41 percent of registered voters said they trust local
news to tell the truth, while just 27 percent trust national news.
Sinclair disputes having any kind of political bent.
Its executives declined to talk with us on camera for this report.
This weekend, the online news site Deadspin created this compilation of dozens of Sinclair's
local newscasters recording an identical promo accusing the national media of spreading fake
news.
MAN: This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.
WOMAN: This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.
MAN: This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The video spread quickly on social media, again stirring criticism
of the broadcast giant.
Scott Livingston, Sinclair's senior vice president of news, responded in a memo saying: "The
promos served no political agenda, and represented nothing more than an effort to differentiate
our award-winning news programming from other, less reliable sources of information."
And today, President Trump defended Sinclair, tweeting: "Sinclair is far superior to CNN
and even more fake NBC, which is a total joke."
Meanwhile, Sinclair's bid to buy Tribune, and thus expand its reach dramatically in
local news, is awaiting approval from the Justice Department and the FCC.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham in Washington, D.C.