Presidential candidate Donald Trump helps Sinclair Broadcast Group launch its new Sunday morning public affairs program this weekend airing here on Sinclair’s Channels 12.2 and 64.
Trump discusses immigration on “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson,” the first national series produced by Sinclair. The Baltimore-based company owns or operates 162 stations, including WKRC-TV, WSTR-TV and Dayton’s WKEF-TV (Channel 22) and WRGT-TV (Channel 45).
“Full Measure” premieres at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on Channel 12.2, and repeats at 10:30 p.m. Sunday on Channel 64.
On Oct. 11, it moves to 11 a.m. on Channel 12, replacing “Good Morning Cincinnati Sunday.”
The local newscast returns at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 10, after the final “Bengals Weekly.” (The 11 a.m. news will be pre-empted Sunday by CBS’ broadcast of the Jets-Dolphins football game from London at 9:30 a.m.)
The Sinclair announcement says the 30-minute program, based in Washington, D.C., “will focus on investigative journalism and target accountability in the public and private sectors.”
“We will pierce secrecy and seek accountability from government, corporations and special interests,” said Attkisson in the July 13 release. “We will report on untouchable topics in a fearless way with a team of award winning journalists. We will follow the trail no matter where it leads.”
Attkisson “left CBS News last year after more than two decades with the network, citing frustrations with what she saw as the network’s liberal bias, an outsize influence by the network’s corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting,” according to Politico. “Sources at the network said Attkisson’s coverage of the Obama administration had become agenda-driven and led network executives to doubt the impartiality of her reporting.”
Politico, the Washington Post and other media outlets have criticized Sinclair for pushing a conservative agenda. The Post has reported that Sinclair aired a special which scrutinized President Obama more than Republican candidate Mitch Romney on the eve of the 2012 election, and was fined $36,000 by the Federal Communications Commission for broadcasting two public affairs shows in 2004 without disclosing that host Armstrong Williams “had been paid by an affiliate of the Education Department to make favorable comments about the Bush administration’s “No Child Left Behind” policy.”
