Normally, HLN’s S.E. Cupp Unfiltered can be counted on to push back against the liberal media when they get stirred up into one of their nonsensical frenzies with the most recent case being the gun control debate. But on Tuesday, Cupp parroted the CNN company line by condemning Sinclair Broadcast Group as nothing more than state-owned propaganda. She even took it a step farther and compared them to Heaven’s Gate suicide cult.
“You remember the Heaven’s Gate Cults, they were the ones that believed there was a spaceship following a comet passing close to the Earth and committed mass suicide in order to board it,” Cupp asked after cutting away from the YouTube campus shooting. “Well, if they had a television network, they may have aired something like this…”
Cupp played the highly edited video produced by Deadspin, which compiled clips of Sinclair own stations promising to be factual in their reporting. “You may have seen that chilling compilation of local news anchors around the country all reading of the same script about fake news and journalistic integrity,” she scoffed. Ironically, she was essentially mimicking HBO’s John Oliver who suggested something similar about them being in a cult.
“The irony of a broadcaster literally staging a broadcast to warn of fake news isn’t lost on many in the media found the reads disturbing and reeking of state media propaganda. That’s because essentially, it was,” she lambasted. The true irony is that this declaration that Sinclair is state propaganda has become CNN’s own cult-like mantra since it’s been repeated so often, despite the fact it didn’t mention President Trump or any specific news outlet.
What Cupp and the rest of CNN are whining about is Sinclair basically making their version of CNN’s laughable #FactsFirst ads, but Sinclair has instead capitalized on the public’s rightful distrust of national media.
Again going to bat for CNN, Cupp warned that Sinclair’s owners were “trying to persuade the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission to approve its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media.” Of course, she failed to mention that that deal looked like it was set to go through, while a similarly large merger involving CNN’s parent company was floundering.
But that didn’t stop Cupp from proclaiming: “All of this should be deeply troubling. What Sinclair is doing is the definition of fake news.” She even bemoaned how Sinclair had their outlets show conservatives in a positive light: “Sinclair has forced local stations to run flattering coverage of conservatives and more coverage of conservative issues.”
“To someone who would say Fox News has an editorial point of view and I am sure Fox News producers send messages down the line and want a certain point of view message, same MSNBC on the left, what's the difference,” she asked CNN’s self-righteous media reporter Brian Stelter. Of course, she failed to include CNN in that lot despite the fact the legendary micromanagement from CNN boss Jeff Zucker had been well documented.
This obsession CNN and its subsidiaries have with Sinclair embarrassing especially considering how hypocritical they look when they and the rest of the liberal media are parroting the same talking points.
The relevant portions of the transcript are below, click expand to read:
HLN's S.E. Cupp Unfiltered
April 3, 2018
5:02:28 PMS.E. CUPP: Switching gears now, you remember the Heaven’s Gate Cult, they were the ones that believed there was a spaceship following a comet passing close to the Earth and committed mass suicide in order to board it. Well, if they had a television network, they may have aired something like this:
[Deadspin video]
CUPP: You may have seen that chilling compilation of local news anchors around the country all reading of the same script about fake news and journalistic integrity. As I wrote in my New York Daily News column today, “they looked like creepy cult members, and indeed many have said they felt like hostages forced to parrot a Sinclair must-read at the behest of their conservative owners.”
The irony of a broadcaster literally staging a broadcast to warn of fake news isn’t lost on many in the media found the reads disturbing and reeking of state media propaganda. That’s because essentially, it was. Here is what you need to know. Sinclair, the country’s largest broadcaster with 193 stations has been forcing network anchors to read right-leaning scripts for years.
To be clear, these anchors are not opinion journalists like many of us on cable news. They are local news reporters whose job is to report the news. Instead, Sinclair has forced local stations to run flattering coverage of conservatives and more coverage of conservative issues.
(…)
CUPP: Meanwhile, David Smith has been trying to persuade the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission to approve its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media. Which would allow the company to reach almost three-quarters of all U.S. households. All of this should be deeply troubling. What Sinclair is doing is the definition of fake news.
(…)
CUPP: Here’s the deal. The joke, of course, is Sinclair which masquerades as a journalism purveyor and instead uses its television stations as the family’s own personal megaphone. The question is, what will its anchor and reporters do about it?
(…)
CUPP: So, you essentially broke this story when you notice this must-read last week. You just heard all the things that trouble me. What troubles you the most about this?
BRIAN STELTER: Yeah staffers started reaching out to me saying, “We’re being told to read this. We’ve never seen anything like this before. This seems really fishy.”
(…)
CUPP: To someone who would say Fox News has an editorial point of view and I am sure Fox News producers send messages down the line and want a certain point of view message, same MSNBC on the left, what's the difference? What is the difference between say cable and local?
STELTER: Two big differences. Sinclair has public airwave access. They have government licenses so they're allowed to broadcast in a given market.
(…)
