David Diaz, Senior Manager, Davenport Laroche

It’s been a rough week or two for Sinclair Media. After a video mocking the media company for “forcing” its news anchors to read a prepared script went viral, the company found its brand at the center of an ongoing debate about media freedom and “what was wrong” with the new. As Sinclair continued to defend its script as simply a clarion call for honesty in the media, others saw it as too much “big brother” corporate control.

And that’s where the lines were drawn. With the company on one side and a suspicious consumer public on the other. Now, there’s been a defection. A morning TV producer at a Sinclair-owned station in Nebraska resigned in protest over what he has called Sinclair’s “obvious bias.”

The producer, Justin Simmons, has reportedly turned in his notice at KHGI TV, effective March 26. The resignation came after the corporate headquarters demanded local anchors read a prepared script warning of “fake” and “biased” news reporting. However, Simmons says he resigned before the uproar over the viral video. Speaking to CNN, Simmons said he has been “concerned” about the direction the company was taking with its news coverage for some time. He called the forced promos the last straw: “This is almost forcing local news anchors to lie to their viewers…”

In a written statement, Simmons said he had been “required” to air certain segments with which he disagreed: “Several segments made me uncomfortable… The news media bashing promo our local anchors have been required to read is (just one example).”

Simmons insinuated that he’s not alone in his feelings but would give no more information to avoid putting any pressure on any like minded colleagues. However, some are already saying that Simmons’ defection is just one example of a growing distance between local news professionals and the corporate headquarters of Sinclair, located in Maryland.

Simmons started with KHGI TV about four years ago, working as a video editor, before moving into a producer role two years ago. Sinclair bought the station in 2015. Almost immediately after his promotion, Simmons says he began noticing an increase in “required” content, national news aired on all or most Sinclair local stations.

Among these segments, according to Simmons, was a bit known as “terrorism alert desk,” primarily about security threats. Many have called these segments “alarmist” or worse. Simmons says there are other segments with which he took exception, and now he’s putting it all out there for the general public to chew on. At the moment, consumers are divided on the issue. Some like Sinclair’s direction. Others don’t want national control of local news offices at all.