You may have seen that viral video compilation of almost 200 Sinclair anchors from across the country reciting the same lines, bashing other media outlets as “fake news.” Kirk Clyatt, a former anchor at the network operator, told Cheddar the company has been exerting this type of editorial control for nearly two decades. “I have real questions, even going back to 2001 before I noticed a real hard turn to the right, about what their real motivation is,” Clyatt told Cheddar. Back then, one of the owners compelled a station “to do a story about pollution in the Potomac river in far western Maryland,” said Clyatt. While seemingly innocuous, the family that runs Sinclair owned property on the river. “They were board members of a coalition called ‘Safe Waterways Maryland,’ [but] none of...those facts were included in those stories.” And that was just one example of the kind of biased slant the management at Sinclair imposed on journalists, Clyatt said. “It happened after 9/11 when the anchors were compelled to make a statement about how they felt that they were supporting President Bush.” Coverage across Sinclair Broadcast Group, founded and owned by the Smith family, is often unabashedly conservative and pro-Trump. The company owns nearly 200 local TV stations, and it could get even bigger. The media giant is awaiting a nod from the Justice Department for its proposal to acquire Tribune Media, which would bring another 42 stations under its umbrella. “There’s a tremendous fear in the newsroom,” said Clyatt. For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/former-sinclair-anchor-responds-to-backlash-facing-broadcast-group).
