Stop (smearing) Sinclair.
That’s the demand made by Sinclair Inc., the parent company of local television station FOX45, to a political committee battling a ballot question financed almost exclusively by Sinclair’s executive chairman David Smith.
In a letter sent to the committee last week, Sinclair attorney Chase Bales called for the group, known as Stop Sinclair, to “immediately cease and desist” publishing claims that the media company is involved in Question H, which would cut the size of the Baltimore City Council.
“While we respect your constitutional rights to urge voters to adopt your preferred position, dragging Sinclair into a contentious election jeopardizes our position of trust in the community,” Bales wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by The Baltimore Banner.
In a separate letter, also reviewed by The Banner, officials with Stop Sinclair refused to comply and insisted that the committee will “continue to tell the truth about David Smith’s efforts to disempower Black leadership, and his use of Sinclair to promote that agenda.”
The question will appear on city ballots this fall with the help of substantial backing from Smith, a Baltimore County resident who chairs the national media conglomerate. Smith contributed $415,000 to the People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement (PEACE) this cycle, a political action committee that coordinated the collection of signatures to place the question on the ballot. If approved in November, the question would amend the city’s charter to cut the size of the City Council from 14 members to eight.
Mayor Brandon Scott and numerous members of the council have decried the proposal, some lending support to an opposing effort dubbed Baltimore City is Not For Sale. A fundraising committee supporting that effort was established with the name Stop Sinclair.
In his letter to the committee, Sinclair’s attorney took issue with text messages that have been sent by the committee urging residents to vote against Question H.
“Baltimore County billionaires are trying to strip voters of representation by removing Black leaders from office,” the text reads. “Their amendment — Question H — would strip away your voice, your representation, and change the city of Baltimore as we know it.” The texts note that they were sent by authority of Stop Sinclair. Sinclair is not otherwise mentioned.
“These claims are demonstrably false,” argued Bales, associate general counsel for Sinclair. “As a general point, Sinclair has nothing to do with Question H. As a corporate entity, Sinclair has taken no position on the issue and is not responsible for funding or otherwise supporting or opposing the effort.”
“By falsely associating Sinclair with Question H, Stop Sinclair has created an impression of partiality by Sinclair,” the letter continued. “Our ability to report the news factually and in an unbiased manner is essential to earning and retaining the trust of the community.”
Bales did not respond to a request for comment. Smith replied: “Thank you for the note. What is the Baltimore Banner?”
If the political committee’s name was aimed at provoking Smith, it worked. The media mogul responded with an op-ed in The Baltimore Sun, the local newspaper he acquired this year, that the donations were made in a personal capacity, unrelated to Sinclair Inc., and accused the mayor of lying about the Hunt Valley-based company’s involvement as part of his campaign to protect the status quo in City Hall.
Citing a segment that aired earlier this month on FOX45 about ballot questions, Joseph Sandler, an attorney for Stop Sinclair, argued that the company had effectively taken a position on Question H. The segment, a 22-minute program called “In Depth with Mikenzie Frost,” discussed ballot questions on city and Baltimore County ballots as well as one state question. The program dedicated four times as much coverage to Question H as it did other city ballot questions, Sandler argued. The majority of the Question H discussion was favorable to the proposal, he said.
“Sinclair’s ‘news coverage’ of Question H is but a thinly veiled effort to editorialize in favor of the ballot measure, and can hardly be considered to be impartial,” Sandler wrote.
Fred Curtis, campaign manager for Stop Sinclair, said the response written by the group’s attorney “speaks for itself” and would not comment further.
The cease-and-desist letter is not the first Sinclair has issued in recent months. A separate notice was received by Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle in August ahead of a public discussion called “Democracy Under Threat: Countering David Smith’s Ballot Initiatives.” In that letter, Sinclair’s attorney argued that the group, an advocacy think tank, was conflating Smith’s personal political activities with those of Sinclair.
In a response letter sent in September, Adam Jackson, the group’s CEO, said he believed the Sinclair letter to be an attempt to silence the group.
“It is important to us that you are aware that any attempts to shut us up will only embolden us even more,” he wrote.
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