CNN’s in-house scolds of conservative media bias were delighted to report that the Sinclair chain of television stations decided to drop their “must carry” commentaries in their local newscasts by former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn.
Despite the fact that Sinclair stations also "must carry" biased newscasts from ABC or CBS or NBC (depended on which network they're affiliated with), Brian Stelter expressed relief that these Epshteyn epistles were ending:
This means that Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump aide, will no longer be showing up with pro-Trump talking points during evening newscasts from Baltimore to Seattle.
The "Bottom Line with Boris" segments were controversial both inside and outside the company, with some Sinclair journalists frustrated about the mandate to give up local news time for Fox-style right-wing opinion.
He added this means Sinclair is also ending progressive commentaries from Ameshia Cross. Wait, what? Sinclair added this balance in January…and almost no one noticed, because liberals are never “controversial both inside and outside the company.” None of them resent “CNN-style left-wing opinion.”
Stelter and his friends resent Epshsteyn speaking effusively about his old boss, in commentaries with titles like this one: "The Trump economy is undeniably great."
Or there's this line: “President Trump’s strategy is simple: Keep the energy and motivation high, focus on several key issues, and ride the wind of his accomplishments to reelection.”
Ride the wind of accomplishments? Stelter can’t find any Trump accomplishments! To admit that there is such a thing would be a controversial “right-wing opinion.” But it’s truly bizarre that cable-news people would object to pushing aside news for opinion segments.
Stelter added NBC reported a memo to Sinclair staffers that said "we will be expanding our local investigative journalism footprint in our daily newscasts. We are excited to dedicate more time in our newscasts to report on critical and relevant issues."
He found anonymous sources expressing delight:
"[T]he mood and energy is really lifted today," a longtime Sinclair staffer said after Wednesday's announcement. "While there's still some concerns over content being right-leaning, this is a step in the right direction."
Liberals have especially resented Sinclair since Trump was elected, since they own TV stations in many mid-size cities in 26 states, including battlegrounds. Translation: We don’t like rebuttals of our national opinions on your local news.
In 2018, when Sinclair drafted its local-news anchors into reading a commentary about how journalism has been harmed by too much bias and fake news, the Trump-haters freaked out. “A national broadcasting system that is shoving propaganda down local anchors' throats,” protested Joe Scarborough. On HBO, John Oliver said Sinclair’s anchors sounded like “members of a brainwashed cult.”
