Pressure of Truth
The news, with the spin made visible.
Outlet profile

WJLA / Sinclair (7News)

U.S. right

Owned bySinclair Broadcast Group (publicly traded; the Smith family holds majority voting control through supervoting Class B shares, with David D. Smith serving as Executive Chairman)
FundingPrimarily local and national advertising revenue and retransmission fees paid by cable and satellite providers; Sinclair reported roughly $2.77 billion in total revenue for 2025
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

WJLA-TV signed on October 3, 1947, as WMAL-TV, owned by the Washington Evening Star Company, and became one of the first ABC affiliates in the country. In 1975, Washington banker Joe Allbritton acquired the station's parent company; the call letters changed to WJLA in 1977, incorporating his initials (Joseph A. Allbritton). Allbritton Communications held the station for nearly four decades until 2014, when it was sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group for approximately $985 million. Sinclair, founded in 1971 and steered for decades by Executive Chairman David D. Smith, has grown into one of the largest local-television chains in the United States, owning or operating roughly 185 stations. The company is known for requiring its stations to air centrally written conservative commentary — most notably recurring segments featuring Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump campaign surrogate — as many as nine times per week, a practice critics call 'must-runs.' In 2018, Sinclair drew national criticism when it ordered local anchors at every station, including WJLA, to read a near-identical script warning about 'fake news' in rival media, language that closely mirrored Trump administration talking points. Independent media-monitoring organizations have consistently rated Sinclair's outlets as right-leaning, with a documented record of coverage favorable to Republican politicians and conservative policy positions. In 2025, Sinclair proposed merging its broadcast operations with rival Tegna and also acquired a stake in E.W. Scripps, reflecting continued consolidation ambitions in the local-television industry.

Sources

  1. WJLA-TV — Wikipedia
  2. Sinclair Broadcast Group — Wikipedia
  3. Sinclair Broadcast Group: History, Holdings & Political Controversies — Britannica
  4. Sinclair Broadcast Group — Bias and Credibility — Media Bias/Fact Check
  5. Sinclair's broadcasts focus on fears, aligning with Trump's view of cities — The Washington Post
  6. How Sinclair Broadcasting puts a partisan tilt on trusted local news — PBS NewsHour
  7. David D. Smith — Wikipedia
  8. TIMELINE: The history of WJLA and 75 years of television news — WJLA.com
  9. Sinclair, Inc. Form 10-K FY2025 — SEC

Profile compiled 2026-07-14; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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