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Outlet profile

WJLA / Sinclair

U.S. center-right (owner-driven; local news is more mixed)

Owned byWJLA-TV is owned by Sinclair, Inc. (formerly Sinclair Broadcast Group), a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: SBGI). The Smith family, including executive chairman David Smith, holds control through super-voting shares. Chris Ripley is CEO.
FundingMainly local and national TV advertising, plus retransmission-consent fees paid by cable and satellite distributors. Sinclair also earns network affiliation and distribution revenue and some political ad revenue. It is a for-profit company with no state or donor funding.
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

WJLA signed on in 1947 and was long owned by Allbritton Communications. Sinclair bought it in 2013 as part of a deal for Allbritton's stations. Sinclair made WJLA its unofficial Washington hub, and critics said the station's political coverage then shifted to the right. Sinclair has drawn criticism for requiring its local stations to air centrally produced "must-run" commentary segments and for using scripted promos warning of biased national media. In 2018 a viral video compiled local anchors reading the same script, and the FCC blocked Sinclair's attempted purchase of Tribune Media over disclosure issues. The company has been tied to Trump-era politics: Jared Kushner said the 2016 campaign struck a deal with Sinclair for more favorable access, and Sinclair stations aired many interviews with Trump campaign figures. In September 2025, Sinclair and Nexstar pulled ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel's remarks about Charlie Kirk's killing. Sinclair's conditions for restoring the show drew criticism that it was bending to the administration. In 2026 Sinclair has pursued a merger with E.W. Scripps, which Scripps' board rejected, and it has been reviewing its broadcast business and a possible separation of its Ventures segment. Such deals depend on FCC approval and ownership-cap changes, so the company has regulatory reasons to stay on good terms with the administration. WJLA's own newsroom produces standard local and regional news, and its coverage should be judged separately from Sinclair's corporate commentary. Treat this profile as a fair summary of public reporting, not a full audit of WJLA's recent coverage.

Sources

  1. A short history of the right-wing politics of Sinclair Broadcasting (Media Matters)
  2. Sinclair Broadcast Group: What you need to know (CBS News)
  3. Sinclair's Tribune Purchase, Path Paved By Trump (Benton Institute)
  4. Sinclair renews push for Scripps merger amid board rejection (NewscastStudio)
  5. Sinclair, Inc. Form 10-Q FY2026 (SEC)

Profile compiled 2026-10-13; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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