An Ohio election special causes controversy

A controversial election eve special that aired twice on the local ABC affiliate in Columbus triggered a wave of criticism on social media, prompting one local anchor to launch her own Twitter defense. And because the company behind the broadcast is about to expand its media holdings in the Buckeye State, this story may not be over yet.

First reported by Talking Points Memo, the left-leaning political news site, the special aired by WSYX focused on the economy, health care reform, and the September 11 attack on the Libyan embassy. Given the scant political coverage some local stations offer even as they rake in wads of campaign ad dollars, that sounds like a good thing. But as TPM’s Eric Lach wrote: “Rather than a side by side comparison of the two major party candidates, however, the special featured some of the most partisan criticisms of President Barack Obama, and spent relatively little time examining Republican nominee Mitt Romney.” As a result, “at times, it sounded more like Fox News than local news.” The half-hour special was produced by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of WSYX and itself no stranger to controversy. In 2004, the company’s Washington bureau chief was fired after publicly criticizing the company’s decision to air parts of a documentary attacking John Kerry’s anti-war activities weeks before the election. That same year, Sinclair was surrounded by controversy when it barred seven of its ABC-affiliated stations from airing a Nightline episode that displayed the names and photos of 700 American soldiers killed in the Iraq war.