or someone california, or someone in kalamazoo, michigan, turns on a sinclair channel, a sinclair affiliate in their hometown. they do not see the name sinclair broadcast group. they see the four letters and the familiar faces of the local news. so this message about false stories that we heard in this anchor clip you played, the message about members of the media trying to control "exactly -- referringk" reviewe to the viewer, these types of messages are essentially laundered through local anchors whose job it is to build up trust with their audiences, who are familiar, friendly faces. that is what makes this void by sinclair so chilling. so terrifying is that it is not coming from some obscure corporate executive that we don't know -- though sinclair has done that as well. it is coming from the anchors are being used as foot soldiers, as one person put it. juan: w we hear president trump talking about sinclair being for superior to cnn. havely, many people criticisms of cnn, but one thing the network does do is it provides its own original recording. as you are saying, many of these sincl

spots are airing on sinclair stations but with a big caviar sinclair is airing its own message before after to make sure viewers get the point. which is owned by singular broadcast group is proud to present both sides of issues for that reason we have agreed to air the commercial you're about to see opposing sinclair's acquisition of additional television stations we think the ad is misleading but wanted to let you decide thank you for what happens when your local news is a local. guy getting jammed. their own service station and nearly two hundred others if for dozens of bankers to recycle the same political message word for word now sinclair is trying to control the news stations in seventy two percent of american homes tell the f.c.c. to stop the sinclair merger that the country might try to moderate this extremely. misleading ad you just saw focused on a brief promotional message that simply said we are a source for truthful new ignored thousands of hours a local news we produce each year to keep you informed the ad was purchased by a group known for its little bias and we hope yo

with its can and must run messages now this week e-mails from sinclair's c.e.o. david smith were published in new york magazine and they reveal a corporate leadership openly hostile to the mainstream media and this is what david smith wrote to a reporter at the magazine who requested an interview i must tell you that in all the forty five plus years that i have been in the media business i have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality we don't talk to the print media as a general principle as we find them to be so devoid of reality and serving no real purpose the print media is so left wing as to be meaningless drivel which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away just no credibility happy to see print media wither away and intent on taking control of the airwaves at the same time that is not my assessments but rather one that is shared by my next guest you worked as a news director at a sinclair t.v. station and then decided to call it quits i'm happy to welcome to the day aaron weiss he joins me tonight from just outside of

all week, ever since the sinclair controversy became national news, i've been asking sinclair executivese here, to come on this program and address these questions. they have declined. but i do have a new statement from the company. beal g we'll get into that. first a little background about sinclair. it's the largest operator of local tv stations. it owns or operates 200 of them across the country. and now it's trying to widen its influence by buying tv stations. they've been taking a bash from the commercials aired last week. it became widely covered by cnn, msnbc, all the major networks. we heard from some of the anchors of these stations who say they were embarrassed they had to participate, and even a few said they refused. here's an example from norma holla holland. she had some regrets, it looks like. she said, i could have chosen to quit, but who among us has an alternate career in their back pocket ready to go? i have a family to support. that's not an excuse -- that's reality. people can't leave right now. and there's also contractual reasons. my next guest left sinclair and th

to stop the sinclair merger think greenlee democracy six three and leave a. well the pushback is also now political this week a congressman from california posted an open letter calling for the sinclair mergers of be blocked representative tony carr dennis tweeted a copy of his letter signed by thirty seven other lawmakers arguing that allowing sinclair to purchase more stations will result in higher costs for consumers and less content at a lower quality. well sinclair has fired back this week at critics saying that it is simply advocating better journalism with its can and must run messages now this week e-mails from sinclair's c.e.o. david smith were published in new york magazine and they reveal a corporate leadership openly hostile to the mainstream media and this is what david smith wrote to a reporter at the magazine who requested an interview i must tell you that in all the forty five plus years that i have been in the media business i have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality we don't talk to the print media as a general

and m s n b c sinclair does not own a nash. news network so what's brand was not that well known but it does own one hundred seventy three local t.v. stations covering forty percent of american households since those channels are affiliated with national broadcasting brands a.b.c. n.b.c. and c.b.s. they display those logos rather than their parent companies up until now sinclair sent editorials from the company's headquarters in maryland that their channels were required to broadcast my goal with every segment is that value that's what you may not already know typically the so-called must runs are fronted by a sinclair executive boris epstein he worked on donald trump's election team some critics would have you believe that my experience somehow disqualifies me for providing you with my analysis and commentary this time the company changed the formula and got its local anchors to deliver the message instead it was caught and found itself in an unfamiliar position in the spotlight if you wanted to come up with the perfect strate

you've been seeing a lot this week about the sinclair broadcast group the biggest t.v. station owner in the usa and they're hoping to get bigger this company was already controversial jerad questioner had disclosed that the trump campaign swapped special access to his father in law in exchange for coverage by sinclair stations and the company requires its local stations to air within newscasts conservative commentaries by former trump aide boris epstein and this week sinclair stations news anchors became the news as they were assigned to reciting a script from the home office for some reason to believe there's nothing the source of their own for my condition and control. the message cautions that biased and false news has become all too common on social media and that some news media outlets publish stories without fact checking. when a widely distributed video montage b. trade local anchors messages as orders from headquarters social media exploded what's really happening here the big picture let's ask mark crispin miller new york university professor of media studies

sinclair broadcast owns hundreds across the country.retty much like what the president would have to say. >> false news has become too common on social media. more alarming, some media outlets publish this -- push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think and this is extremely dangerous to our democracy. >> after that video went viral the president tweeted and i quote so funny to watch fake news networks among the most dishonest groups of -- the company defending the promos as a journalistic. >> all too common on social media. >> reporter: identical script read by local news anchors across the country. stations all controlled by one company, the sinclair broadcast company. >> reporter: the tone sounding early similar. >> this is extremely dangerous to our democracy. >> this is extremely dangerous to our democracy. >> reporter: done to quote reach maximum reach frequency. it is the latest move by a media giant that critics say is pushing pro trump propaganda. >> former fbi director james comey testified. >>

and they will tell you, whether it's sinclair or someone else -- not for davis smith and sinclair, i would not be an owner of television stations the country today. sinclair broadcast group gave me that opportunity. and so you have to be careful. you don't want a heavy hand in newsroom. most journalists, most journals i know on the left and on the to haveeally want integrity. they really want to do what is right. fair andly want to be honorable in their reporting, which is very difficult sometimes. you leave newsroom alone. but what you do have, you have what is called commentary. at the end of my broadcasts, i may offer a 30-second commentary, because i feel so strongly about what's going on with guns, what's going onin florida, what's going with terrorism, with the withmy, what's going on dhaka, what i will do is step away from that and offer a commentary that's my own, where i give my opinion. you will see those commentaries. unscripted. it's my opinion, it's what i believe. but it never spills over in the department, because i have the opportunity, in other shows i do. aboutand w

what did the president do after the sinclair story blew up? he tweeted support, calling sinclair superior to cnn and another news organization. that's fake news if i've ever heard it. let's get to the real news now. so let's get to real news now. so let's begin tonight with frank rooney, a columnist for the "the new york times," april ryan, and david jolly. we weighed out the facts there. the president spent the last 24 hours really on a twitter tirade targeting democrats, mexico, amazon, fake news, the justice department, the fbi. do you worry about who's advising him? >> i don't think this was the product of advice. i think what you saw here was president trump simply reacting to his impulses and indulging them on twitter. and i think the question is he going through a phase right now? how long will it last when he's not listening to advice and just his whims. >> the president's frustration really with his cabinet is on full force. jim acosta reporting the epa administrator scott pruitt's job is in jeopardy now. trump is angry over stories a

>> sinclair is a conservative outlet. jeff zucker recently called fox news state-run tv and a propaganda machine and sinclair is the same at a local level. sinclair will bring the impact that fox has had, i think fox downright damaged our democracy, changed the way we think about democracy, now that's happening at a local level. and as you said, local tv news is still the most trusted part of news. news as a whole is less trusted than it ever was before. but local news for better or for worse is on top of that, is sinclair will now take apart its credibility. >> 72% of the stations -- i'm sorry, they would be able to get into 72% of american households if this deal goes through and everyone expects it to go through because the trump administration is friendly to sinclair. talk about why local journalism is so important and without it, if we deteriorate the trust there, what happens? >> i think people don't trust news, period. i think that the trust in large-scale national news, as you say, is down. and i'm a liberal and i

dan, what do you think of what sinclair is doing?r, though, anything like this before? >> no, i've never seen anything like this before, and i think the two things that are really troubling to me are, number one, is that local stations sort of pride themselves on independence, right? you ask a local station, you know, what's different about you? we're independent. and then you hear these people saying the same thing across the country, and it sort of detracts from that argument. maybe the most important thing to me is the lack of transparency. meaning, if sinclair wants to say, there's been liberal media bias for years out there, it is time to combat that. fair enough. that is absolutely their right to say it, and, you know what, a lot of people would agree with them, that the mainstream media has tended to be left of center. but to pretend that this isn't that kind of statement, to pretend this is just kind of a statement of how good we are as local news reporters, and how we're going to go in depth and we're going to get the real s

and speaking of news there's this story about sinclair broadcasting. that's a conservative leaning media company, the largest owner of television stations in the country ordering its local news anchors and journalists to read a script that parts your ill conceived narrative about news, fake news and legitimate news organizations. >> the sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media. without checking facts first. they're own personal bias and agenda to control and this is extremely dangerous to our democracy. >> really? it is not the role of news anchors and journalists to report stories about you and your administration. it is our job to speak truth to power, facts first. not ideology first, not ideology at all. we're not supposed to thel the viewer what to think nor should management. before we delve into this story even deeper a little bit later on this evening i want you to viewer to know about sinclair's connection to the trump world. the tv stations, that's the broadcast element of this operation. circuit tv is their d

if you look at them you don't know it's sinclair. if you look in your box for cnn or msnbc, you know. but with sinclair you don't. howie: they are looking to increase their scope in local news. david smith the executive chairman said this. i have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality. the media is so left wing which is why it will fade away. just no credibility. emily: they should say they are the counter-balance. they should say we are balancing out all this other stuff. what they are doing is exploiting the concerns about media bias for advertising purposes. bill: when david smith says the print media serves no real purpose. does that include the "wall street journal"? the washington examiner? the washington times, "the weekly standard"? the national review? i think you are touching on something. this whole story, the real story is the largest tv broadcaster in the country are applying to buy 42 more. i think the media mergers between at&t and time-warner are something we ought to be concerned. the rule

sinclair runs cbs stations and oebs cbs affiliated stations.ve -- a 60 minutes on and a football game and do the same for nbc programming. "meet the press" on sunday and yet it doesn't have control over your programs and nbc doesn't have control over what sinclair does in the other hours. >> but it clearly has control or some degree of control over what is broadcast on the local news stations. this was a mandated script that came from top down. what is the goal here? what are they trying to get at by having anchors display this warning about fake news? >> well, there are two motivations and i think both are in play. one of which is as scott livingston from sinclair broadcast said, we're offering this as a point of differentiation and proud of the rigorous programming here and isn't this wonderful and they're doing it at a time they are seeking to acquire several other stations and trying to say they are a place of responsible journalism when everybody is worried about fake news. and it is like a dog whistle and setting off a cannonball and for

broadcasting for being biased sinclair is far superior to c.n.n. and even more think n.b.c. which is a total joke. maybe if you could explain to our viewers what exactly are these ties between the president and sinclair broadcast. well the probably most obvious one is that the chief political analyst for the sinclair broadcast group is a former trump aide named for a sap stein and so what you have at the same player stations and there's you know roughly two hundred of them scattered across the country you know they have local teams of journalists who cover their local stories but they also centrally produce some segments about national politics and they require the stations to run the same segments all over the country so whether you're in boise as you mentioned earlier you're here in washington or or some place else on your nightly newscast you might very well see a former trump advisor in boris epstein on your t.v. spinning whatever the day's events are in the president's favor and tell him our viewers do we know are they turned off by this i mea

i'm not a fan of sinclair broadcasting they're a big conglomerate who works the f.c.c. to get their way and we've talked about that before on the show but the rest of the mainstream media is attacking sinclair perspiring propaganda by having various anchors deliver uniform talking points but seeing the reporting we've seen over the last few years on things like oh i don't know rush or syria or donald trump in general are the mainstream outlets all kind of already guilty of this very same practice maybe not exactly but there are in that same ballpark. t.v. let me tell you something you have hit it out of the park a couple of things i call it the r t effect to wit two years ago with all due respect if i told somebody hey i'm going to be on our team that oh oh. is that a frequency no r g r r this is this was this was before today where can i get it i don't know i get it i can't wait what is it it's everywhere it's the forbidden fruit it's just i do love it thank you negative publicity no such thing now years ago i didn't know sinclair i didn't know what it does now there a

sinclair media but there's another investigation that some members of congress see as sinclair tries to buy tribune media collins cook host of the big picture here in our city america gives us his learned take on the media all that ahead but first let's get to some headlines. it is tax day and the supreme court is hearing arguments about if states should be allowed to collect taxes from online purchases states cannot currently require online read retailers like amazon for example to collect and then return those taxes to states from residents who order them online unless the retailer does have a physical presence in the state in question the case south dakota versus wayfair incorporated is expected to be decided by the supreme in june. according to the wall street journal the demand for lithium what has been referred to as white petroleum since it's so valuable is gaining rekindled traction in europe particularly in germany and the czech republic where there are still areas to be mined as opposed to australia and south america where it is said that chinese companies have already secu

for can twitter see our poll shows that are dot com coming up we did a little deeper into these sinclair broadcasting scandal i'm sure you've all heard about with mr media analyst themselves lion-el of why no media are liable made so tune into watching the whole. pranking gave americans a lot of job opportunities i needed to come up here to make some money i could make twenty five thousand dollars as a teacher or i could make fifty thousand dollars a year with trucks or chose to drive trucks people who rushed to a small town in north dakota was an unemployed rate of zero percent like gold rush is very very similar to a gold rush but this beautiful story ended with pollution and of a station a lot of people have left here i don't know too many people here anymore slow down too much they lost jobs got laid off the american dream is changing that's not what it used to be. and it's a tough reality to. max keiser one for my guide to financial survival this is fun it's a device used by professional scallywags to earn money. that's right these has flaws are simply not accountable and we're just

sinclair broadcasting. never heard of them?0 local tv stations across the country, and they are on the front pages after a video went viral, featuringne featuring news anchors reciting this manuscript. in an internal memo, obtained by nbc news, sinclair executives are defending themselves saying the critics are now upset about our well-researched journalistic initiative, focussed on fair and objective reporting. let's break this down. joining me now is curt clieet, dave truedell, and renaldo marriotty. i turn to you, because it was your tweet that said this is the company that is going to take over tribune soon, along with the 42 tv stations it own. if that doesn't concern you, it should. tell us why it should. >> well, what we're seeing is a company that is pushing a far-right agienda that is takin over more and more local tv stations across this country, there are many parts of this country that might only have one power two local television stations and people don't always realize that what they're getting is not an objectiv

federal communications commission is will not investigate sinclair broadcast group or distorting news coverage even after the urging to do so by prominent u.s. senator maria cantwell and eleven other senators including bernie sanders letter was sent after it was revealed and we reported it here on boom bust that sinclair news anchors that two hundred plus stations around the united states read identical scripts warning viewers about fake news meanwhile sinclair is in discussions to purchase tribune media for a reported three point nine billion dollars and here discuss all of it our media expert and a host of artes the big picture with holland cook holland cook of all people go of all people thank you for being here are you surprised i mean the the f.c.c. has the ability to investigate and grant licenses eccentric but are you surprised that they didn't take these senators request and go ahead and investigate sinclair the f.c.c. is very loath to regulate content but they're very strict when it comes to making sure people know what kind of content they're watching and in december they fi

it's no surprise that trump's pulling for sinclair. sinclair and trump go way back. curb are in br-- kushner bragged abo cutting a deal with sinclair for better coverage. one investigative reporter at a sinclair station tells cnn, quote, is suickens me the way sn consider claire is is encroa encroaching upon trusted news brands in rural markets. so dangerous is the sinclair intrui intrusion into that trust? what is the danger in your view? >> sinclair is not marketing itself as a biased or partisan news networks. when viewers in their local markets tune in to see a sinclair network, it will be branded abc or fox or another network. they don't know that sinclair is pushing a branded message. it would be like going to the supermarket and buying cheerios except the actual box of cheerios is not filled with the stuff you think it is, it's full of something that's going to change your political viewpoint potentially. that's the misrepresentation of what sinclair is really about is what is troubling. >> and they were already forcing their stations to run these pieces by se

why do i mention sinclair broadcasting -- were not for david smith on the sinclair broadcasting group, i would not be on television groups -- stations across the country. sinclair broadcasting group gave me that opportunity. you have to be careful. you don't want a heavy hand in the newsroom. i know onalists that the left and the right really want to have integrity. they really want to do what is right. they really want to be fair and honorable in their reporting, which is very difficult sometimes. so, the newsroom you leave alone. what you do have -- you have what is called commentary. sometimes at the end of my broadcast i may offer a 30-minute commentary. i feel so strongly about what is going on with guns, going on in florida, with terrorism, the economy, daca -- i don't want it to spill out into my newsroom. i will step away and offer a commentary that is my own where i give my opinion. you will see those commentaries -- it is unscripted, my opinion, it is what i believe. it never spills over to the news department because i have the opportunity included on other shows that i do.

criticized sinclair broadcasting for being biased.r is far superior to cnn and even more fake nbc, which is a total joke. for more, we welcome back to our broadcast jim warren, veteran print journalist, now executive editor of a news startup called news guard that will rate the versety of news and information sites. jim, we should also tell you is seen in chicago on wgn tv, one of the key stations that is part of the sinclair purchase of tribune media, which is still getting held up and has not gone through. jim, my bias is a big fan of local news. i worked in it for 12 years. i watched it religiously every day. when i watch, i'm a consumer. these are my friends telling me the news. what in your view is wrong with these instructions coming down from corporate to local anchors? >> well, it looks like a coordinated effort to proffer a pro-trump point of view the same time sinclair is enmeshed in very, very high stakes discussions with the justice department to let this deal go through, which includes wgn in chicago, independent station,

by tweeting that he liked sinclair's coverage.ould rather be working for a news organization that is challenging the administration, not -- >> but sinclair had 15 exclusive trump interviews in 2016. not one of hillary clinton. they had tim kaine for a couple of them. they've almost always given money to republican nominees. it's no surprise they are very conservative leaning. still, i think this was a rejection of what the principles are for journalism. >> and two more things to add to that you have to keep in mind, a chief political analyst for sinclair is boris epshteyn, who worked with the trump campaign and in the trump white house for a little bit of time. and as you'll raul laecall last politico was telling people that jared kushner believed they had struck a deal with sinclair for better coverage. >> if you want to do a paid political advertisement and you're sinclair, go do it and say, we provide fair and balanced, or whatever they want to say. but making it a part of your broadcast is something very different. >> and by t

is affixed to the sinclair news stations.sk him, name one sinclair news station. name them. >> coming up next, just what was said today between the bunny and the first lady. we'll have a look when "the 11th hours" continues. i'm leaving the track behind, but i'm not standing still... and with godaddy, i've made my ideas real. ♪ i made my own way, now it's time to make yours. ♪ everything is working, just like it should ♪ no matter how much you clean, does your house still smell stuffy? that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. so, try febreze fabric refresher. febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. make febreze part of your clean routine for whole home freshness. >>> today was the annual white house easter egg roll, but it was so much more. there were the president flanked by

today, president tefended sinclair, tweeting: "sinclair is enfar superior to cnn and more fake nbc, whicha total joke." meanwhile, sinclair's bid to buy tribune, a thus expand its ach dramatically in local news, is awaiting approval from the justice departnt and the fc for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham in washington, d.c. >> woodruff: we return now to the politics of immigration and the impact of president trump's series of tweets on so-called dreamers and the wall. for that, i'm here with tamara ith of npr and stuart rothenberg of inside elections. welcomto you beth. it is "politics monday." tam, we have been talng about immigration, the president's tweets. what is driving this? we know the president feels strongly about this issue, but how do we read this? >> well, there are a lot of different ways to read it.he certainly,ews of the caravan is something that has been bubbling up ands out there, but also this is a core issue for president trump. dating back to his ride down that golden esctrator atump d wer when he declared his candidacy and talout mexico not sending their best

sinclair is also looking to expand its reach.inclair is awaiting approval to buy tribute media for 4 billion bucks. its stations would reach more than 70% of the nation's households. the concerns resurfaced after a must run promotion went viral over the weekend. they were required to read the same exact script, warning their viewers about irresponsible one-sided news stories plaguing the country. >> we are extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that cbs 4 news produces. >> but we are concerned about the one-sided news stories plaguing our country. >> plaguing our country. >> sharing a biased and false news has become all too common on social media. more alarm, some media outlets publish the same fake stories without checking facts first. >> the sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media. more alarming, some simply aren't true. without checking facts first. unfortunately, some members of the media use it to push their own personal bias and agenda. this is extremely dangerous to our demo

is affixed to the sinclair news stations.sk him, name one sinclair news station. name them. >> coming up next, just what was said today between the bunny and the first lady. we'll have a look when "the 11th hours" continues. thou hast the patchy beard of a pre-pubescent squire! thy armor was forged by a feeble-fingered peasant woman... your mom! as long as hecklers love to heckle, you can count on geico saving folks money. boring! fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. so let's promote our spring travel deal on choicehotels.com like this. earn one free night when you stay just twice this spring. allergies. or, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com is the fact that it's very, very tough on bacteria, yet it's very gentle on the denture itself. polident consists of 4 powerful ingredients that work together to deep clean your denture in hard to reach places. >>> today was the annual white house easter egg roll, but it was so much more. there were the president flanked by the first