GoLocal Story On WJAR’s Parent Co. Sparks Dispute Between Sinclair, Politico - They Blame Kushner

GoLocal Story On WJAR’s Parent Co. Sparks Dispute Between Sinclair, Politico - They Blame Kushner

A weekend article by GoLocal that quoted a Politico story which claimed that Jared Kushner had negotiated a deal between the Trump presidential campaign and Sinclair Broadcasting, parent company of WJAR-10, sparked charges and counter charges from the two news organizations on Wednesday.

First, Sinclair issued a statement taking umbrage with the Politico story. 

“Over the past three days, there have been numerous misleading press stories about Sinclair’s election coverage.  I now need to set the record straight.  We offered both major presidential candidates the same opportunities to be interviewed by our local anchors on a regular basis,” said Scott Livingston, Vice President of News at Sinclair Broadcast Group in a statement sent to GoLocal.

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Sinclair then engaged Andrew Seaman, the Chair of the Society of Professional Journalist’s Ethics Committee who issued a statement endorsing Sinclairs’s claims -- and then amended it to add that the Politico story was correct.

Politico Fires Back

In an email from Politico’s Brad Dayspring, Vice President, Communications to GoLocal, he wrote:

"Their (Sinclair’s) statement is a bit confusing. POLITICO stands by its reporting that Jared Kushner, at a meeting with business executives in New York, said that the Trump campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair for straighter news coverage. Mr. Kushner’s remarks were so notable that six attendees reached out to multiple POLITICO reporters to detail what was said.

In its report, POLITICO included full comment from Sinclair, explaining that the arrangement was for extended interviews and was also offered to the Clinton campaign. Sinclair, the Trump campaign, and the Clinton campaign all provided comment for the piece.” 

“No one, including Sinclair, has asked for a formal correction. It seems as though Sinclair’s dispute rests with Jared Kushner’s characterization of the arrangement, not with POLITICO’s reporting,” Dayspring wrote in the email. 

In a follow up to Sinclair asking if they thought the Politico story should be retracted, the Maryland-based media company refused to comment.

Kushner’s Claim False?

If Sinclair’s claims are correct and Politico’s reporting is correct, there is only one explanation and that is that Kushner’s claims were false or he misunderstood that their arrangement was a quid pro quo.

“It’s important to note that The Society of Professional Journalists have since updated the post cited by Sinclair to note that they do not doubt the veracity of POLITICO’s report, rather, they doubt that Kushner’s characterization was correct. ‘Based on what I saw, I don't think Kushner's statement is accurate,” the author of the SPJ post Andrew Seaman said on Twitter. “I'll update the post to clarify his statements may have been correctly reported, but – [in my opinion] - incorrect,’” added Dayspring.

“We did not offer favorable or preferential treatment to either candidate, nor did we ever waiver from our commitment to provide rigorous, thoughtful, and thorough coverage to the millions who rely on local television. It is in everyone’s best interest that candidates speak to voters through interviews with professional reporters. Our outreach to both Secretary Clinton’s and President-elect Trump’s campaigns was meant to deliver meaningful, informative newscasts to our local viewers.  We stand behind that practice,” said Sinclair's Livingston.

Efforts to reach Jared Kushner via the Trump campaign were unsuccessful.