David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun highlights how Sinclair broadcasting creates a local outlet for the Fox News/Breitbart self-reinforcing news bubble.
November 13, 2017

An Alabama Fox News viewer might not notice that his local news is lying to him.

Because now that Sinclair Broadcasting is buying up local news stations, they are pushing right wing propaganda into homes nightly in the guise of local coverage.

So Breitbart says the Moore charges of child molestation are baloney.

Fox News says so too.

Then a local Alabama reporter interviews three people and says "I can't find anybody who thinks Roy Moore's past is an issue."

And Breitbart / Fox then report that a local reporter "on the ground" says support for Moore is tremendous. Zurawik raises the alarm on this echo chamber:

Sinclair Broadcast Group has become a leading player in the right-wing echo chamber that includes Fox News and Breitbart.

This is a dangerous development, as all three have used their news platforms as political weapons.

On CNN's "Reliable Sources" on Sunday, I explained how Sinclair used its Alabama station, WBMA, last week to try to attack the credibility of a Washington Post article in which a women says Senate candidate Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 14 and he was 32. I also explained how Breitbart promoted the WBMA report with a headline on its homepage saying: “Alabama ABC affiliate can’t find one voter who believes WAPO report about Roy Moore in man on the street segment.”

This same kind of garbage happens with the Republican Congress, too. They hold congressional hearings on Solyndra, baby parts, Benghazi, fast and furious. etc. etc. in order to create what one Senator called a "sound bite factory for Fox News."

The circle works like this:

Breitbart and other right-wing blogs run a conspiracy theory.

Fox "asks the question" is this true?

GOP Congress holds freak-out hearings with video (played endlessly on Fox) to answer questions "based on news reports."

Fox and Breitbart play the hearings as "proof" that there is a scandal.

And now add "Local News Reports" which are OWNED by a national right wing conglomerate.

This must end.

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