A UW Oshkosh journalism professor says a recent video revealing dozens of TV anchors from Sinclair Broadcasting Group reciting the same speech warning against biased and false news is scary. Sinclair required local anchors to record promos denouncing “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.” Sinclair says its simply warning viewers about the dangers of fake news circulating on social media. But media critics say Sinclair is using local journalists to parrot President Trump’s allegation that mainstream media can’t be trusted. Dr. Vince Filak is a journalism professor at UW Oshkosh. Filak says ironically the warning is false. “It reminding me of a cult rally,” Dr. Filak told AM 1170s Between the Lines program. “…it was almost like a mantra from being issued on high.” Filak says unfortunately it can be hard sometimes to differentiate what is news and what is opinion. At the same time Filak says he’s concerned that many people don’t realize the impact of the loss of local newspaper coverage because it has been a slow erosion over the years.
