Twelve senators demand FCC investigation into Sinclair news scripts, Tribune review pauses

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Twelve U.S. senators on Thursday asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Sinclair Broadcasting Group. for “deliberately distorting the news” and asked the commission to halt its ongoing investigation into the proposed takeover by Tribune Media Co. for an amount of $3.9 billion.

Sinclair, already the largest owner of broadcast stations in the U.S., announced in May 2017 plans to acquire 42 Tribune television stations in 33 markets, expanding the stations’ reach to 72 percent of U.S. households.

In the letter, the senators, 11 Democrats and independent Bernie Sanders, expressed concern that local news anchors at Sinclair-owned stations across the country were being forced to read scripts imposed by the company. The scripts criticized the “disturbing trend of irresponsible, one-sided news plaguing our country” and prompted a wave of criticism.

“We are concerned that Sinclair is engaged in a systematic news distortion operation that is designed to undermine freedom of the press and the strong localism and viewpoint diversity that are the foundation of our nation’s broadcasting laws,” the senators wrote, adding that it “may violate the FCC’s long-standing policy against broadcast licensees who intentionally distort news through staging, twisting, or falsifying information.”

In a letter to senators on Thursday, reviewed by Reuters, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai rejected their request, saying the agency does not have the authority to revoke a license based on the content of a specific news program. Pai made similar comments last year when President Donald Trump suggested NBC’s licenses could be challenged because of its news coverage.

“I find it hard to imagine an action more chilling to free speech than a federal investigation into a broadcast station over a disagreement with its reporting or promotion of news coverage,” Pai wrote.

After the scenarios attracted significant public attention, Trump tweeted on April 2 in defense of Sinclair: “Sinclair is far better than CNN and even more fake than NBC.”

In February, Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat, said the FCC inspector general was investigating whether Pai was biased and favored Sinclair.

In November, Pallone asked the inspector general to investigate, citing a series of FCC decisions he said benefited Sinclair and media reports that the Trump campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair in exchange for favorable coverage.

Pai has repeatedly denied taking any action to benefit any company, and Sinclair denies any wrongdoing.

Sinclair declined to comment on the senators’ letter, signed by 11 Democrats, including Sens. Maria Cantwell, Tom Udall, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Sanders.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Dan Grebler)