Turn
off 10 targets Yorker Shoes over Sinclair advertising
Turn
Off 10, a campaign coordinated
by the Rhode Island ReSisters, protested outside Yorker
Shoes on 1503 Hartford Ave, Johnston in
opposition to the family-owned business’s continued advertising on Channel 10/WJAR, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
The protest started in
the rain, but it gradually cleared up and the sun came out towards the end of
the protest. Protesters told me that they come out in rain or shine.
Sinclair Broadcast Group
is an American telecommunications company. The company is the largest
television station operator in the United States by number of stations and
total coverage.
Since taking ownership
of WJAR, Sinclair Media Group has mandated that WJAR include two minutes of
right-wing or pro-Trump propaganda in local news broadcasts nine times a week.
In March a new mandate was announced according to internal Sinclair memos leaked to CNN. It is called an “anchor delivered journalistic responsibility message.”
Local television
journalists are now required to read pro-Trump messages on the air calling into
question the integrity of major media outlets.
This is intended to echo
President Donald Trump’s claims that much
of the major media news coverage is “fake news,” eroding the confidence of news
consumers.
Since complaints sent to
WJAR/10 and Sinclair Broadcast Group have been ignored, Turn Off 10 has begun
to target station advertisers.
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