RT comes to 170 TV news outlets nationwide

For the last few years, Sinclair Broadcast Group has forced its anchors on local TV stations to read news reports produced centrally by the company. They also forced all their local stations to air the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth documentary that lied about and smeared John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election.

“Must-runs” are nothing new. Owners telling their media outlets what to do is older still. Money talks.

The wrinkle for Sinclair these days is that a former Russian propagandis is producing some of these must-run segments.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “The claim of balanced reporting is undermined by must-run segments like the one about the “Deep State” that ran during KOMO’s 6 p.m. newscast last week. In the March 21 segment, former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka parroted a Trump talking point regarding the existence of a “Deep State” attempting to undermine the U.S. government.

That segment was produced by Sinclair’s Kristine Frazao, who before coming to Sinclair was a reporter and anchor for the Russian-government funded news network RT, described as “the Kremlin’s propaganda outlet” by the Columbia Journalism Review.”

Friends in Champaign-Urbana, your ABC station is owned by Sinclair. Friends in Southern Illinois, your Fox station. Friends in Madison, Fox. Friends in St. Louis, your ABC station. Friends in Portland, ABC again. Friends in Seattle and Washington DC, ABC too.

In total, more than 170 stations nationwide are owned by Sinclair. Get your local news elsewhere and keep an eye on who chooses to advertise on those networks.