Watchdog tries to take a bite out of Sinclair
Media watchdog organization Free Press has filed to deny license renewals to Sinclair Broadcast Group and its LMA partner Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation. Free Press notes two 40K fines against Sinclair and Cunningham's precursor, Glencairn, for running too cozy of an LMA operation, and says that the relationship is as cozy now as it ever was.
"The Cunningham leadership remains in lockstep with that of Sinclair, making a mockery of the fundamental principle of broadcast law that each licensee ultimately is responsible for the independent operation of each licensed station," reads the petition, penned by Nicholas P. Miller and James R. Hobson of Miller & Van Eaton PLLC.
The stations being challenged are all in the Carolinas. Two are being run in LMAs, the others are owned outright by Sinclair. In Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem: WXLV-TV (Ch. 45, ABC, O&O) and WUPN-TV (Ch. 48, UPN, O&O); in Charleston SC: WMMP-TV (Ch. 36, UPN, O&O) and WTAT-TV (Ch. 24, Fox, LMA'd); in Greenville-Spartanburg SC-Asheville NC: WLOS-TV (Ch. 13, ABC, O&O) and WBSC-TV (Ch. 40, WB, LMA'd); and in Raleigh-Durham: WLFL-TV (Ch. 22, WB, O&O) and WRDC-TV (Ch. 28, UPN, O&O).
Fair Press cites numerous links between Sinclair and Cunningham which it thinks warrant at minimum a hearing on the renewals. Although it notes that it is not necessarily illegal for Cunningham to be run by the mother of the four sons who run Sinclair, Fair Press thinks that many additional facts point to too cozy of a relationship.
Fair Press charges that Sinclair's "News Central" operation makes a mockery of localism in news coverage, and that Cunningham is a consumer of the service. It also notes that Cunningham followed Sinclair in lockstep as the recent "Stolen Honor" controversy went its course, with no hint of independent management at any step of the way.
"Sinclair and Cunningham behave identically because they have an identity of interest," wrote Free Press, and adds, "The public interest commands that these licenses not be granted without clearance through a process of evidentiary hearing. The known behavior of these licensees is egregious. The FCC must look into the full scope and gravity of the behavior."
Are you reading this from a forwarded email?