Under new ownership, WJLA-TV takes a slight turn to the right

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, ArlNow.com: Morning Notes

Under new ownership, WJLA-TV takes a slight turn to the right

By Paul Farhi September 16 at 9:04 PM 

There’s a new owner and a new approach to the news at WJLA-TV, Washington’s ABC affiliate. Under the direction of its ambitious corporate parent, the station’s news operations have taken a subtle but noticeable turn to the right. ... Last week, for example, WJLA viewers woke up to a new face on the morning news: Mark Hyman, a veteran conservative pundit, who offered some criticism of President Obama.
....

In addition to adding commentaries from Hyman, an executive at Sinclair, WJLA has begun a partnership with the editorially conservative Washington Times to feature the newspaper’s “Golden Hammer” award on the air each week. The award recognizes “the most egregious examples of government waste, fraud and abuse,” as determined by the Times. The Aug. 28 award, for example, went to state and local governments that give Hollywood filmmakers tax credits to lure movie and TV productions, which WJLA’s report suggested amounted to a government subsidy of scripted sex and violence.
....

Sinclair’s takeover has caused some unease in WJLA’s newsroom. Staffers say some of the stories ordered by Sinclair on a “must-run” basis don’t meet the station’s long tradition of non-partisan reporting. Moreover, they suggest that airing criticism of the federal government without rebuttal is bound to play badly in a region that is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers. ... “You can’t run a TV station in Washington by telling government workers that they’re a bunch of criminals and crooks,” said one of the station’s journalists, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he said he risked being fired if identified. “You can’t be the anti-
government channel in Washington. They’re going to lose the trust they built up with people over years and years. We’ve told people, ‘We’re just like you,’ not, ‘We’re looking out for the tea party.’?”
....

Newsroom employees say they were alarmed last month by comments made by David Smith in an introductory staff meeting. According to several employees, Smith repeatedly said the station’s newsroom would “work for” its advertising-sales department. The statement surprised and disappointed some employees, who said newsroom decisions had been independent of advertising concerns under Allbritton’s management. (Allbritton’s former chief operating officer, Frederick J. Ryan Jr., was named publisher of The Washington Post earlier this month.) ... The apparent blending of news and advertising has been evident in some parts of the station’s newscasts. WJLA’s morning news has aired footage from Myrtle Beach, S.C., and its anchors have mentioned a tourism promotion in conjunction with the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The tourism organization has been running a similar promotion with other Sinclair-owned stations.

[elleng]

1. That's.swell,

but.as.I.don't.get.'news'from.those.guys,

[Fred Sanders]

2. There is a fortune to be made in political ad money, of course the TV machine wants them some...news

department can become a cash milk cow if they stroke the right teats.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. "We'll ger right back to that story about the earthquake that killed 10,000,000 people in China,

but first here's Kimberley with a story about a new ab crunch machine that's getting a lot of attention! Kimberley?