S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show. Experts say the local media landscape is tilting. Right. We'll talk about the implications there. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. The media landscape in San Diego is shifting. In case you haven't noticed , as broadcast giants Nexstar and Sinclair acquire more local stations , conservative ownership is becoming the norm for San Diego TV stations. Sinclair Broadcast Group is now bidding to buy E.W. Scripps , which owns Ten news , the ABC affiliate here in San Diego. Reporting by J.W. August in OB , rag outlines the rightward trend. And joining me to talk about it is Dean Nelson who contributed to the story. He's a professor of multimedia journalism at Point Loma Nazarene University. Professor , welcome back to Midday Edition.
S2: Thank you. Jade , it's always good to talk to you. And it's always good to talk about this very important topic.
S1: Indeed , indeed. So let's talk about it. This latest bid from Sinclair to buy out E.W. Scripps.
S2: But , um , the shrinking of local news and then making sure that the national coverage totes a particular line , both in content , tone , ideology. Um , so that's what they've done in the past. We have no reason to believe that it would be different if they bought channel ten here. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S2: And , um. Whether they would continue. I mean , it's Sinclair that was one of the the Giants that took Jimmy Kimmel off the air after he made his comments after the death of Charlie Kirk. So they have a very aggressive stance on the kind of ideology they want to promote. And that's kind of where I think it would go. Here in San Diego , if they owned channel ten as well.
S1: Yeah , I mean , ten news is one of the remaining San Diego stations not under control by conservative ownership.
S2: And and not only in broadcast television , but also in cable and in some print organizations. But this has been part of the part of the trend. And I would say it the the emphasis for me anyway , is not necessarily whether it's conservative or liberal. This is capitalism. This is how capitalism works , and buying up competitors , buying up other , uh , other assets so that you can become the dominant player. So on the one hand , this is about conservative media ownership , but on the other hand , it's just capitalism at work. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. That's interesting. I'm going to dive into that a little bit more , please. Here. But but before I do , you know , I want to talk about this too , because according to J.W. August , reporting in O.B. rag , former Sinclair employees , you know , they report that the company distributes opinion pieces to run in local newscasts without clearly labeling them as such.
S2: I think it's a it's a method that will ultimately backfire. But in the meantime , it will allow more acquisitions. It will because it carries favor with the white House and with the FCC director. And so they're going to be able to just keep buying up stations and make money. But in the meantime , the the the stakeholders in this is the audience , the viewers , people who are trying to get informed as citizens. And as that becomes more and more , um , skeptical in in whether we're really getting something honest and the best obtainable version of the truth. Uh , the it just kind of begins to sow that mistrust even further.
S1: You know , years ago , this type of ownership in one market would have never happened because there were laws in place. The FCC regulated corporate ownership of stations to ensure there were no monopolies.
S2: Those laws don't matter , Jade. Those laws don't matter. The fairness doctrine. Uh , the 39% rule , all of that that went out the window as cable and as internet streaming. I mean , uh , that those laws just can't keep up with the technology and with the delivery systems that are in place. Really , when I say that this is , um , kind of capitalism at work , there. They're not competing with other broadcast stations. They're competing with streaming services there and with podcasts and and Netflix and all. So I think it's similar to why does Netflix want Warner Brothers ? Because not because they want to perpetuate a political ideology. They want Warner Brothers because they want to buy up another service. That's that's capitalism as well. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. You know , in general , news outlets like newspapers and public radio are scrutinized for a perceived liberal bias by political opponents.
S2: It does seem like there's a certain segment of the audience that wants to get their news , wants to be informed through broadcast television , and I will say that's an older and older , uh , group , in the demographic and a shrinking group. And so that's another reason why Sinclair has to buy up more of these stations , because it's a smaller pool of audience members who are being informed by television , by broadcast news , more and more people are getting their news online. And that isn't that isn't going to change. So it's it's more a matter of there's a certain segment of audience. They lean conservative. They want to get their their news from broadcast media. It is no longer the majority , though.
S1: All of this is happening as San Diego's voter makeup , though , has generally shifted from red to blue in recent decades.
S2: I mean , look at what happened with the Union-Tribune when when Doug Manchester owned it , they they really tried to push this very , very conservative agenda. And people left the paper not not only employees but also readers , and they found their news elsewhere. That's why we have a voice of San Diego. That's why we have the Times of San Diego. We there are these there are these options now. And I suspect that that could happen to if somebody figures out a way to make money that would attract liberal or progressive viewers , readers , voters , whatever. Um , and start some kind of a of a television station if they could figure out a way to make money at it , they will. But I just think it makes the point of , uh , more of the conservative voters in San Diego will continue to get their news and information from the broadcast , and everybody else will go elsewhere.
S1:
S2: Do you want to keep. Do you want to keep being a journalist ? And if so , you might have to do that elsewhere. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S2: That's the great question. I'm waiting for somebody to figure that one out that says , oh , come on over here. But I mean , that's that is kind of what is happening , though , is that these , these niche , uh , news organizations inquire first or Inside Climate News or the Marshall Project or Voice of San Diego. There are all these smaller organizations that are hiring journalists , and but it's not the big 300 person newsroom that an L.A. times used to be , or that a Union Tribune used to be. Um , I mean , look at the L.A. times for , for example , you had this owner who sounded like he really wanted to inform the public when he bought the L.A. times and when he bought the Union Tribune. And that was honorable. And he said all the right things. And then as he realized , uh , no , he's losing money on the Union Tribune. Then let's let's just sell it and sell it to Alden Capital , which has this history of , uh , of just scaling back and scaling back , you know , until , um , it is it's not an ideological thing. It's a it's a money thing. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S2: San Diego , thankfully , is not one of them. We have KPBS we have still some robust reporting going on in all media , in my opinion. But you go into some parts of California , some parts of middle of middle America. And what are you left with ? You're left with , um , podcasters. You're left with conspiracy theorists. You're left with , uh , with people who just have the loudest voices , who can trigger the most outrage , and are they being informed ? And so then we think about , so how are they going to vote based on the information that they have ? Yeah , I think that's , uh , that's not a good prospect for us. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S2: If your previous guest mentioned George Floyd. If we didn't have citizens with their cell phones out , putting that video of that police officer with that knee on George Floyd's neck , uh , who's whose voice would we would we be hearing from ? We'd be hearing from the police. We'd be , you know , but we citizen journalists are really holding powerful people accountable in a way that regular journalists have been doing for a long time. And it's actually more important than ever that they're the eyes and ears of a community.
S1:
S2: Yes. I actually teach it in my classes at Point Loma Nazarene. And what I mean by skepticism is not to distrust everybody. It's to say , I wonder , I wonder if it's true , and then go to another source and then go to another source. So if you're only getting your information from one place all the time , you might not be as well informed as as you thought. But if you can take that extra step and say , I wonder who else is reporting on this and maybe get another perspective , another point of view , that's , I think , the best advice I could give.
S1: I've been speaking with Dean Nelson. He's a professor of multimedia journalism at Point Loma Nazarene University. Professor , thank you as always.
S2: Always fun talking with you , Jade.
S1: That's our show for today.
S3: I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
