Me-First Media: More on Sinclair Broadcast: Some developments to my recent Alternet article on the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The article lead off with a story about how the company's flagship Baltimore affiliate pulled out the stops in 2001 to report on river pollution in western Maryland--way out of the station's "designated market area" and in a region where its signal reportedly can't reach. One reason why they'd send the company helicopter and a news crew to report a distant story: company VP Duncan Smith owns property in the area. Smith allegedly told reporter Craig Demchak, "Craig, we need this story, it's affecting my property. We've got to slam these people... This is destroying my property, we've got to stop it."

Demchak denied that Smith said any such thing, just as he denied knowledge that Smith had property in the area and knowledge of any link between Sinclair and Safe Waterways in Maryland, a group whose director he interviewed for the broadcast. A Sinclair contact I just spoke with says Demchak--a "usually ethical guy"--is lying. He discussed the story with this source on several occasions, admitting such knowledge. But beyond he-said, she-said, a more curious fact is that SWIM--a group founded by Duncan Smith that counts a handful of other Smiths as its trustees--is housed in Sinclair's Cockeysville, Maryland offices.

Whistleblowers? Any current or former Sinclair employees who wish to tip Sinclair Action off on abuses within the company, contact SinclairTips@gmail.com or email me directly. Confidentiality assured.