A video released last weekend showed dozens of TV newscasters at stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting simultaneously reading the exact same script echoing Donald Trump's attacks on the free press.

In Portland, it was Kim Block and Greg Lagerquist of Sinclair-owned WGME-TV (Channel 13) and WPFO (Channel 23) , with no disclaimer that the words weren't their own.[1]

But now local Sinclair stations around the country are starting to resist by refusing to run these propaganda segments, and we're urging WGME to join in.[2,3,4]

Sinclair Broadcasting regularly forces local affiliates to run centrally produced, pro-Trump propaganda segments. One Sinclair local news anchor said, "I felt like a POW recording a message."[5]

This is especially urgent as Sinclair's proposed merger with Tribune Media would give Sinclair control of stations in 72 percent of U.S. households.[6]

The journalists at Sinclair's locally owned stations are in a difficult position. Resisting the mandates of their corporate ownership could literally risk their livelihoods. But by signing and sharing this petition, we can show that their customers--Portland news consumers--want real local news, not canned, Fox News-style right-wing talking points.

Will you sign the petition to WGME urging them to stop running segments written or produced by Sinclair's pro-Trump ownership?