1) I watched 200+ of Sinclair's "Terrorism Alert Desk" segments and here's what I know: Sinclair wants local news consumers to be perpetually, irrationally terrified of constant terror attacks by Muslims. Period. mm4a.org/Z75 
2) Across the country, Sinclair stations are sandwiching alarmist, xenophobic bullshit in between local weather and high school sports, creating a constant drumbeat of vague fear. They use tactics like:
- Almost exclusively focus on stories somehow related to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or Boko Haram. When in doubt, just throw in a line about how a suspect said something Muslim-y.
4) (Out of 202 segments in 2017 covering 500+ stories, there was only one about white nationalist terrorism. One!)
5) - Obsess over the far-right xenophobic, extremely false canard of "foreign" (Muslim, brown) refugees and immigrants constantly committing terror attacks in the European countries that welcome refugees:
6) - Give ISIS free publicity by touting shaky ISIS "connections" to violent incidents, seemingly without awareness that claiming responsibility for everything is kind of ISIS' whole deal.
7) When in doubt, just talk about a random police arrest where suspects were released for lack of evidence. Surely that's relevant for your local news audience in like, Illinois.
8) Or just talk about preventative security measures like there's a terrorism apocalypse on the horizon and we're all definitely and imminently about to die.
9) OR, or -- here's the real secret: Just throw in whatever. Incidents not related to terror at all. Someone writing "ISIS" in a subway station. Just go nuts. Real wild card stuff.
10) The point isn't accuracy or public interest. Surely that's clear. The point is psychologically creating a more xenophobic audience full of irrational fear (which studies show can also make people more conservative).
11) One sloppy story isn't going to damage public trust. But this is an avalanche of misinformation. It seems strategically designed to keep viewers scared, isolated, and tuning in. Don't let that happen in your community. Know where Sinclair is: mm4a.org/ZNA
