Sinclair's stations have been known for featuring news content and programming that promote conservative political positions; the Washington Post noted that WJLA-TV's news content began to exhibit a conservative slant following Sinclair's acquisition of the station, while the company also produces pieces from a Washington bureau that similarly exhibit a conservative viewpoint.[3] In April 2017, Sinclair announced it had hired Boris Epshteyn, who was briefly the White House assistant communications director for surrogate operations for the Trump administration, and a senior advisor of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, as chief political analyst.[117]
Sinclair often mandates its stations to air specific reports, segments, and editorials, referred to as "must-runs". The practice has been criticized by the news staff of some of Sinclair's stations due to the viewpoints that they propagate; following the September 11 attacks, Sinclair ordered its stations to read editorials in support of President George W. Bush's response to the attack. The Baltimore Sun reported that the staff of Sinclair's Baltimore station, WBFF, internally objected to the editorial, as they felt that the endorsement would "undermine public faith in their political objectivity". The station, however, complied with the mandate.[4][3] Newsroom employees of KOMO in Seattle told The New York Times that they felt the national pieces were low quality, and were too politically skewed for the city's progressive audience. One employee admitted that they had tried to reduce their prominence by deliberately scheduling them during lesser-viewed portions of newscasts (such as around commercial breaks).[118][2][119]
In 2004, Sinclair's political slant was scrutinized by critics when it was publicized that nearly all of Sinclair's recent campaign contributions were to the Republican Party. In particular, the Center for Public Integrity showed concern that the Republican slant of Sinclair's news programming, along with Mark Hyman's past history of government lobbying (such as for the FCC to loosen rules regarding concentration of media ownership), made its stations provide "anything but fair and balanced news programming." Hyman disputed these allegations by stating that its newscasts were "pretty balanced" and that "the reason why some on the left have characterized us as conservative is that we run stories that others in the media spike."[115][120]
Sinclair stations have been involved in various controversies surrounding politically-motivated programming decisions,[120][3] such as news coverage and specials during the lead-ups to elections that were in support of the Republican Party.[121][122][120]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Broadcast_Group
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