Elon School of Communications Dean takes a stand on Sinclair policies

Paul Parsons, the dean of Elon University's School of Communications, added his signature to a letter of concern addressed to the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting Group. 

The letter, signed by journalism school deans and department chairs from across the country, takes a stand against the editorial segments from Sinclair's corporate office that local news stations owned by Sinclair are required to air.

In an email to ENN, Parsons said he signed the letter because he "considers Sinclair’s corporate must-read policy to be antithetical to everything we teach about a free and independent media, whether it emanates from government or some corporate boss." 

The letter specifically addressed the editorial segment read word-for-word by local anchors across the country last week. This script warned of "the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country," and claimed certain members of the media push their own agenda and create fake news stories that control "exactly what people think."

The Sinclair Broadcasting Group's "must-read" policies were reported on by John Oliver in July. The reach of this particular segment was highlighted by this viral Deadspin video that shows a mashup of local anchors across the country reading the same script. 

The letter recognizes that editorial content leaning towards a specific viewpoint is not uncommon, but states these opinion pieces should be separated from news coverage.  It argues that using local news anchors to deliver commentary, not explicitly identified as such crosses the line and erases the trust viewers put in their local stations to deliver unbiased newscasts. 

Parsons said the letter originated from faculty at the University of Maryland. As of Monday afternoon,19 journalism school deans and department chairs had signed it, but Parsons says he expects the list to continue to grow. 

Recruiters from Sinclair will be speaking to Elon seniors interested in journalism careers on Tuesday. 

Below is the full text of the letter with signatures as of 3:58 p.m. Monday afternoon. 

 Sinclair Broadcasting Group has not respond to ENN's request for a comment. Scott Livingston, vice president for news at Sinclair,  told Poynter earlier this week, "We understand that the promo prompted an emotional response, and we’ll learn from that in the future."