If Trump cured cancer, the anti-Trump media would declare he was a healthy cell supremacist

By Kent R. Kroeger (April 4, 2018)

Sinclair Broadcast Group, the owner of 173 television stations in the U.S., recently required its stations’ news anchors to read a script promoting the objectivity of their news coverage and warning viewers about the partisan bias plaguing other news outlets.

In the broadcast business, this is known as a ‘must-run,’ and Sinclair is well-known for using ‘must-runs’ for conservative commentaries.

In response to Sinclair’s promotion, the anti-Trump media had a collective meltdown.

The irony of Sinclair promoting its stations’ objectivity in news coverage is undeniable. Yet, it must also be acknowledged that Sinclair, as a for-profit business enterprise, has every right to distinguish its service from its competitors, even if it is based more on fiction than reality.

As critical as I am of the anti-Trump news media’s reporting (e.g., MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico.com, Vox.com, etc.), I support their right to be biased in their coverage. I also recognize how partisan-driven news attracts audiences which, in turn, generates profits. The Fox News Channel has been proving that for the past 20 years.

That is our nation’s commercial news system. We can lament its existence and the lack of mainstream, non-partisan alternatives, but we cannot deny the partisan (anti-Trump) media’s right to do what they do.

And Donald Trump has been a godsend to many news outlets, as exemplified by the New York Times surpassing $1 billion in revenues and MSNBC attracting its largest audiences ever this past year.

The anti-Trump news outlets have a tangible incentive to be biased.

And Sinclair has every right to call them out for this bias, regardless of the hypocrisy involved.

The subsequent industry-wide freak-out about Sinclair forcing its local news anchors to read a statement about the importance of news objectivity is equally hypocritical.

Cue MSNBC’s Morning Joe reaction to Sinclair’s marketing strategy: