Tom Janssen / The Netherlands
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” And you know “the pen” is a metaphor for communication of all kinds – including, of course, television and the Internet (which weren’t around when English playwright Edward Bulwer Lytton coined the phrase back in 1839).
I don’t think anyone uses “the sword” as a weapon today. either. They’re more likely to blast you with an automatic rifle.
Anyway, you get the idea.
And so do Trump and his minions.
They – and an army of bots – infest public media. (As you know, Trump himself is a ferociousTwitter troll.) And they’re back on Facebook with a pretend newscast hosted by Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara.
Then there’s the swarm of right-wing web sites – Alex Jones, Breitbart, Drudge, Coulter, Malkin and on and on…
You and I laugh at this kind of amateur night at the opera, of course. But a lot of low-information voters get their “news” from the Trump propaganda network.
And the pernicious network is taking a giant leap forward.
Circumventing an Obama Administration regulation to do it, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has given the Sinclair Broadcast Group permission to buy up dozens of local TV stations across America. With the expansion, Sinclair will have access to 72 percent of America’s households (plus the access they get through their raido stations).
What’s really scary is that Sinclair forces its stations to broadcast canned pro-Trump BS.
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Ajit Pai and the family that owns Sinclair Broadcast Group are among Trump’s buddies.
Sinclair will own (or control) 233 stations in hometowns across America when the current expansion is complete. So your local TV station might be joining the Trump propaganda network – if it isn’t already in it.
I checked a Sinclair list on the Internet and there’s a local Tampa Bay station on it – WTTA Channel 38 . Of course, that’s one station I won’t be watching from now on.
More on the Sinclair expansion
