Protesters Gather at Sinclair Shareholder Meeting Acknowledge They Won't Likely Change Much
COCKEYSVILLE, Md. -- About 70 people with protest signs, a megaphone and a stack of cardboard boxes made up to look like hollow TV sets gathered to protest outside the Sinclair shareholders' meeting for about two hours Thursday, yelling back at honking cars and chanting against “Trump TV.” Most we interviewed said protesting would help to generate more public opposition to Sinclair's proposed purchase of Tribune Media but conceded their demonstration doesn't have much of a chance of swaying Sinclair's shareholders. “No, it doesn't,” said shareholder James Patterson, 63, who described both shareholder votes and peaceful protests as “part of the democratic process.”
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Sinclair lets only shareholders attend the meeting, and we and other media were barred from the company's premises Thursday, along with the protesters. The only media member allowed in Sinclair's parking lot was Megan Gilliland, a reporter for the Sinclair-controlled WBFF Baltimore. Along with Sinclair's own security, Baltimore County Police Department officers watched the protesters from Sinclair's parking lot, and one police car followed this reporter into a neighboring parking lot during the interview with Patterson. “Everything all right?” the officer interrupted the interview to ask. Asked if he had pulled up alongside because a Sinclair shareholder was being interviewed, the officer, still in his car, said he was on a public road and could go where he wanted.
Investors voted to re-elect the board and confirmed PwC as accountants, said a release. Patterson told us shareholders also asked questions of executives but declined to tell us what those questions were, other than that some were about buying Tribune.
Demonstrators spanned a diverse range of ages but were largely white, veteran protesters from Maryland, many affiliated with local chapters of politically left-leaning groups such as the Indivisible Movement. Max Obuszewski waved a sign reading “Enough is Enough” that he salvaged from an anti-gun protest in Washington earlier this year. The reverse of the sign called for a ban on “bump-stocks.” The network of groups like Indivisible is how protesters typically find out about events, said Sue Williams, a Howard County, Maryland, resident in her 50s. Frequent FCC filers such as Free Press, Common Cause and the National Hispanic Media Coalition were represented.
Sinclair Vice President-Corporate Relations Mark Hyman brought protesters a bag of chilled water bottles and urged them to hydrate. Hyman, the host of a Sinclair commentary program called Behind the Headlines, declined to be interviewed. The company didn't comment.
“I believe in diversity of thought,” Williams said on why she opposed Sinclair/Tribune. Kevin Doyle, 64 and a retired physician from Baltimore, said he's alarmed by the increasing power of Sinclair. Barbara Boktor, a 24-year-old law student affiliated with Free Press, compared media monopolies to companies “trying to control your thoughts.” Marty McLaughlin, a 55-year-old electrician from Pikesville, Maryland, was attending his first protest Thursday. “I'm against all forms of propaganda,” he said. Retiree Angud Singh, 63, said he was concerned a lack of diverse local news could lead to a U.S. devoid of reliable information about its own government, a situation he compared to Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Several protesters said a viral video earlier this year showing a set of identical Sinclair newscasts (see 1804020056) put the transaction on their radar. Jill Hornstein, a 44-year-old stay-at home mom and frequent protester, said she became aware of the concerns with Sinclair/Tribune after she began learning about the FCC actions on net neutrality. College student and Howard County, Maryland, resident Josea Mundi,18, said he's concerned that Sinclair's broadcasts spread hate speech.
Demonstrators told us the visibility of the protest would lead to more public action, and it was a “first step” in stopping the deal. “The Only Good Monopoly is Hasbro” said one sign, while another read “Keep Your Islamophobia Off my Local News.” The goal is “to let the public know,” said Kira Bennett, an 18-year-old Howard County resident. It takes a combination of grass-roots activism, lobbying and litigation to make things happen, said Media Alliance Director Tracy Rosenberg. Media Alliance is part of the ongoing court challenge against the restored UHF discount. For every person physically at the protest, a hundred people are supporting the same cause online, she said.
Though most protesters interviewed identified themselves as supporting other left-wing causes such as gun control, they also said they would be equally critical of Sinclair/Tribune if Sinclair weren't seen as a right-leaning company. A progressive company forcing all its anchors to all read from the same script would be equally distasteful, said Williams. Any company that uses a platform that's expected to be neutral to push its own agenda is in the wrong, said Color of Change Senior Campaign Director Brandi Collins. Viewers should be able to "expect accuracy in local news," she said.