Slippery slope? Sen. Dick Durbin concerned over Sinclair's scripted on-air message

As Twitchy reported recently, much of the media flipped their lids over a video showing anchors at stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group reading a common script regarding “fake news.”

No, it certainly wasn’t a good look for Sinclair, but it also didn’t look all that different from the usual suspects on cable news all pushing the same narratives — as the Daily Caller proved when it put together its own supercut of liberal pundits all repeating the same lines about Sinclair.

You’d think it would be enough for the public to decide what is and is not fake news, but of course, the government had to get involved. Sen. Dick Durbin has sent a letter to the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group with his concerns: first and foremost that the practice of handing down talking points “compromises the ability of local reporters to serve the unique interests of their viewers.”

Sounds like a job for the free market to us.

https://twitter.com/JoePerticone/status/981583933375729664

Joe Petricone of Business Insider asks a good question: why is a senator demanding a media company explain its editorial decisions? Because we have plenty of questions about the way similar talking points get transmitted by “competing” cable stations.

Lefties seem upset that Sinclair broadcasts over the air — for free! — snaking its tentacles into every home.

Dick Durbin is the most appropriately named man in the Senate.
If any Republican sent this letter to any of the big 3 networks liberals would soil themselves with outrage. Since he's the number 2 Democrat in the Senate, I doubt @CNN or @MSNBC will mention it. https://t.co/LbzDbSkqIP

— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) April 4, 2018

Seriously, what makes any media company's internal editorial decisions the business of anyone in government at any level? Would @CNNNewsource put up with this over its own feeds that send identical news packages to local stations? pic.twitter.com/Dzypq4CCMT

— David Martosko (@dmartosko) April 4, 2018

https://twitter.com/SocialClaude/status/981628689904488451

Yup, bad idea. Not the job of anyone from government demanding media companies explain editorial decisions, no matter how odious those decisions are. https://t.co/q8uoVtBj2l

— Kevin Tierney (@CatholicSmark) April 4, 2018

Stepping a wee bit over the line. https://t.co/Om5joyNNaS

— Steven Money (@StevenMoney) April 4, 2018

Another senator speaking from his bully pulpit. Sinclair response should be to ask the Senator to respectfully pound sand. https://t.co/MZMVc9lB2H

— Bill Hansen (@billhansen19304) April 4, 2018

https://twitter.com/VinnyGB1/status/981593061594685441

They've officially lost their minds. All of the @CNN talent is required to agree to say things they're told to say. This is common practice. https://t.co/GIA15zlcVe

— Langdale.ca (@langdaleca) April 4, 2018

Curious you’d mention CNN. The network’s Brian Stelter seems intrigued by Durbin’s letter.

Durbin: Sinclair directives compromise "the ability of local reporters to serve the unique interests of their viewers" https://t.co/x1NAYolKah

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 4, 2018

Glad to see you're concerned about this. https://t.co/2s4PuqLqKy

— BT (@back_ttys) April 4, 2018

So you are totally cool with a member of the government asking the owner of a media company to account for his actions. What happened to the First Amendment. Or is it only bad when Trump tweets #FakeNews?

— Rob Eno (@Robeno) April 4, 2018

Nice media company you got there. Be a shame if we had to hold hearings on it. https://t.co/swFqEeG0aP

— Hammerjack (@MarcGiller) April 4, 2018

Related:

Imagine THAT! Jim Treacher notices something VERY interesting about media's Sinclair freakout https://t.co/qiHMW0kjs5

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 3, 2018