Morning Sentinel quotes Socolow in article on Sinclair Broadcasting’s pro-Trump segments
Michael Socolow, an associate professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine, was quoted in the Morning Sentinel article, “Sinclair Broadcasting — and 2 Maine TV stations — under fire for pro-Trump segments.” Maine’s WGME (Channel 13) and WPFO (Channel 23) each air a taped commentary from President Trump’s former special assistant Boris Epshteyn during the local news, according to the article. The stations carry the segments nine times a week on orders from their owner, the Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the nation’s largest owner of local television stations and an aggressive disseminator of conservative commentary supporting the Trump wing of the Republican Party, the article states. Socolow said the situation for Channel 13 is unfortunate because while Sinclair has a history of “intentionally confusing news and opinion,” WGME is one of the best newscasts in all of New England. “WGME is really not a typical Sinclair company in that it has great local newscasts; they win awards and they have top producers, and (anchor) Kim Block is a local legend,” Socolow said. “I view WGME’s news operation backed by veteran journalists as almost unique in the Sinclair universe.”