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Producer Quits Sinclair Station in Protest Over Company’s ‘Obvious Bias’

Apr 4, 2018  •  Post A Comment

Amid the ongoing ruckus over the Sinclair Broadcast Group’s company-mandated “fake news” promos, a producer at KHGI-TV in Nebraska quit his job in protest. CNN reports that Justin Simmons, a morning TV producer at the Sinclair station, gave notice on March 26.

“This was after Sinclair’s corporate headquarters mandated that local anchors read the controversial promos warning of ‘fake’ and biased news, but before the promos went viral and became a national topic of discussion,” CNN reports. “Simmons told CNNMoney that he had been concerned about Sinclair’s corporate mandates for the past year and a half, and that the promos were just the final straw.”

Simmons is quoted in the report saying: “This is almost forcing local news anchors to lie to their viewers.”

CNN adds: “He said his feelings are shared by others at his station, but didn’t want to say anything that would imperil his colleagues.”

Simmons shared his resignation letter with CNN, which reports that in it Simmons wrote that he had been required to air “several segments that have made me uncomfortable.” He cited “the news media bashing promo our local anchors have been required to read” as the most recent example, CNN notes.

The ABC affiliate is based in Kearney, Neb.

3 Comments

  1. Simmons is quoted in the report saying: “This is almost forcing local news anchors to lie to their viewers.”

    It’s not “almost.”

    And good for him for maintaining journalistic integrity. I hope he’s not just a lone voice in the wilderness.

  2. Good for you Simmons. We can’t allow any news story on the air that is honest if it puts Trump in a good light. “Forcing” anchors to be honest and tell the truth, if it puts Trump in a good light, definitely should not be tolerated. All the national news medias have gotten the message. And when he wrote “1984” GEORGE Orwell thought it couldn’t happen in America. Truth be damned. We are going to Dump Trump with lies and innuendo. We have already captured the minds of people like Scott G. It will be much harder to ensnare intelligent voters but thank goodness there are enough people like Scott G that I feel pretty certain we will succeed.

    • Not sure if you’ve actually read 1984, but it’s about THE GOVERNMENT manipulating the media and controlling people’s thoughts. The reason you’ve probably been hearing people making references to 1984 lately is because TRUMP AND HIS PEOPLE are trying to stifle the media and control the news. Similar to the “Thought Police” in 1984, Sinclair (in bed with Trump) is forcing its stations to run stories and read news WORD FOR WORD as handed down from corporate. This is unheard of in local news. And anchors and reporters at these stations are essentially being held hostage, as most are under contracts, including non-compete clauses, and have to choose between reading this “news” or facing heavy penalties.

      Anyway, I know you were trying to sound smart with the 1984 reference, but you’ve got it all backwards.

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