MEDFORD, Ore. – A national protest of Sinclair Broadcast Group was brought to the local level Tuesday. A crowd gathered outside KTVL News 10 in Medford seeking change.
“We are here protesting Sinclair Broadcast Group,” explained Jessica Sage, the co-founder of ORD2 Indivisible. “We have been watching Sinclair Group for a long time, they’ve been slowly buying up local television stations across the country.”
ORD2 Indivisible is a Rogue Valley group associated with the national left-leaning Indivisible Group.
Sage’s concern is a political slant behind local news coverage. She said, “If someone turns on Fox News, they know what they’re getting, but if they’re turning on a Sinclair Broadcast Group news station, they’re not aware that their news is not impartial.”
A video produced by popular blog Deadspin of anchors employed by Sinclair stations across the country surfaced last week, igniting some of the protests.
It shows the anchors reading the same script which some reportedly refused to read.
With over 100,000 views, KTVL General Manager Kingsley Kelley said it’s something that needs to be addressed.
“When you see something that is at a higher level, it does make you stop and take a look at yourself,” Kelley said. “But I think that those values hold true still, which is, you know, ‘Are you doing a good job in your local community.’”
Before our cameras left, there were handshakes and conversations beginning. Both parties have goals they’re working on.
Sage said, “I want people to know the truth, and I want people to know that when they turn on the news, they’re getting to hear unbiased reporting.”
Kelley explained, “We want to do a good job in the reporting we do, we want to report on things that are important to the community and important to the people that are here, and if we don’t do a good job, we want people to let us know.”
The Mail Tribune, who recently entered into a partnership with KTVL, is also facing backlash over their association with a Sinclair company.
Editor Cathy Noah recently addressed the issue. You can read the article by clicking here.
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