3 ms·

Local TV set to air discredited 'Plandemic' researcher's conspiracy theory

30 points by justin66 6y ago

a3n 6y ago
> Local television stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group As soon as I read the headline I knew it would be them. Be careful. Your local station, that you might trust, may have been bought by them. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=sinclair+broadcast+group&t=fpas&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=sinclair+broadcast+group&t=fpas&ia...
- ShamelessC 6y ago
  John Oliver did a good bit on them on Last Week Tonight, including dozens of supposedly local news stations repeating the exact same Sinclair script verbatim. Highly recommend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc
  - jakeogh 6y ago
    Media coordination is only slightly more advanced when we go "up" one level. Same talking points; they just bother to reword them or use more effective (and hence deceptive) psychological techniques. Mr. Oliver knows this, he is an integrated part of pretending his friends are being honest with their viewers. Consider watching CNN a year in the past, or any major 'news' source. Most of what they say is false, or worse. http://v6y.net/ownership.jpg http://v6y.net/ownership.jpg https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16352498 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16352498
    - ShamelessC 6y ago
      I disagree but I doubt debate over it would be very interesting on HN.
fabian2k 6y ago
Promoting conspiracy theories like this during a pandemic is extremely irresponsible, and making a target out of a single person even more so. Putting a target on people like this can have real consequences.
- ShamelessC 6y ago
  In what way? Do you mean that those who already believe the conspiracies will see this as even more evidence that "the mainstream media" is trying to sell some sort of false counter-narrative?
everybodyknows 6y ago
>The Sinclair Broadcast Group has drawn criticism in the past for pushing a conservative political worldview in its newscasts and programming decisions. Why is CNN dignifying right-wing cranks by categorizing them as "conservatives"? Mitt Romney and George Will are conservatives -- these people are something very different.
- krapp 6y ago
  Mitt Romney and George Will are what conservatism used to be, "these people" are what conservatism has become, what the anti-establishment backlash that started with the Tea Party and alt-right and which continues with Trumpism has turned it into.
  - erikerikson 6y ago
    Both of those factions (and others) continue to exist and participate.
  - everybodyknows 6y ago
    So, all Webster's, Cambridge and American Heritage dictionaries are all of them wrong? If so, who decides what words mean? Twitter? https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=conservatism https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=conservatism https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/conservatism https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/conserva... https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism
justin66 6y ago
It's interesting that this bounced back and forth and was flagged, not flagged, and is flagged again. And, of course, interesting that someone felt they needed to flag it.

30 points by justin66 6y ago

a3n 6y ago

> Local television stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group As soon as I read the headline I knew it would be them. Be careful. Your local station, that you might trust, may have been bought by them. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=sinclair+broadcast+group&t=fpas&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=sinclair+broadcast+group&t=fpas&ia...

ShamelessC 6y ago
John Oliver did a good bit on them on Last Week Tonight, including dozens of supposedly local news stations repeating the exact same Sinclair script verbatim. Highly recommend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc
- jakeogh 6y ago
  Media coordination is only slightly more advanced when we go "up" one level. Same talking points; they just bother to reword them or use more effective (and hence deceptive) psychological techniques. Mr. Oliver knows this, he is an integrated part of pretending his friends are being honest with their viewers. Consider watching CNN a year in the past, or any major 'news' source. Most of what they say is false, or worse. http://v6y.net/ownership.jpg http://v6y.net/ownership.jpg https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16352498 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16352498
  - ShamelessC 6y ago
    I disagree but I doubt debate over it would be very interesting on HN.

fabian2k 6y ago

Promoting conspiracy theories like this during a pandemic is extremely irresponsible, and making a target out of a single person even more so. Putting a target on people like this can have real consequences.

ShamelessC 6y ago
In what way? Do you mean that those who already believe the conspiracies will see this as even more evidence that "the mainstream media" is trying to sell some sort of false counter-narrative?

everybodyknows 6y ago

>The Sinclair Broadcast Group has drawn criticism in the past for pushing a conservative political worldview in its newscasts and programming decisions. Why is CNN dignifying right-wing cranks by categorizing them as "conservatives"? Mitt Romney and George Will are conservatives -- these people are something very different.

krapp 6y ago
Mitt Romney and George Will are what conservatism used to be, "these people" are what conservatism has become, what the anti-establishment backlash that started with the Tea Party and alt-right and which continues with Trumpism has turned it into.
- erikerikson 6y ago
  Both of those factions (and others) continue to exist and participate.
- everybodyknows 6y ago
  So, all Webster's, Cambridge and American Heritage dictionaries are all of them wrong? If so, who decides what words mean? Twitter? https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=conservatism https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=conservatism https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/conservatism https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/conserva... https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism

justin66 6y ago

It's interesting that this bounced back and forth and was flagged, not flagged, and is flagged again. And, of course, interesting that someone felt they needed to flag it.