Media Watchdogs Are Suddenly Worried About Sinclair

[Commentary] The mainstream media has suddenly discovered Sinclair. Oh no! cry the media watchdogs -- this company known formally as Sinclair Broadcast Group has a conservative slant to its newscasts. That's a no-no, say the watchdogs, even though many sources of news on TV seem to have a slant these days. But the problem isn't the slant, of course. It's the conservative slant.

Sinclair is in the media watchdogs’ crosshairs because it is the largest single owner of local TV stations in the United States in terms of the number of properties the company owns. Many of the stations have local news. I have seen these “too-powerful” arguments arise time and time again over the course of my 34-year career covering television. As a result, I have come to the conclusion that a company such as Sinclair could own a million stations and the commentaries of Boris Epshteyn would not be any more influential or watched by a bigger audience than any number of other commentators from MSNBC to Fox News Channel.