This is a subject I don’t really like to broach on this site, where the focus is the Cubs and baseball.
Nevertheless, there have been comments and concerns noted about Sinclair Broadcasting, who will partner with the Cubs with their new TV channel, the Marquee Network. Sinclair is known for putting a right-wing slant on some of the news broadcasts on their owned television stations.
Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney tried to lay any fears of such a slant on the Marquee Network to rest Thursday in a radio interview, as reported by Paul Sullivan in the Tribune:
“The programming is in our hands, the distribution will be in their hands,” Kenney said.
“I’ve seen some of the narrative on social media around the worry on right-wing bias. And I’d say, A: It doesn’t exist on the Tennis Channel (which Sinclair owns) if you watch any of their programming there. There’s no news bias.
“I’d also point out whether you’re right wing or left-wing bent, Fox News Channel has a right-wing agenda, but you don’t see any of that creeping into their NFL broadcast or the Fox broadcasts of Major League Baseball for that matter. And the same thing too with NBC.
“So you don’t see Tucker Carlson showing up in any of the Fox Major League Baseball broadcasts, and you won’t see any of that with Marquee Sports Network either. So that really is not a worry.”
Kenney’s point about the Tennis Channel and Fox Sports vs. Fox News is the salient point here. The Marquee Network is going to be about baseball and the Cubs, not politics. For now, we have to take Kenney at his word.
As I noted at the beginning of this article, I post it with some trepidation, because I know that readers here have varying political views from all over the spectrum. I urge you to please keep your own views to yourself while commenting on this topic. Thanks.