After weather-alert criticism, Illinois meteorologist off air

[Applewood]

After weather-alert criticism, Illinois meteorologist off air

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A popular meteorologist has been absent from local television newscasts since criticizing a corporate weather-alert brand last week, prompting an advertising boycott, social media protests and a complaint from a U.S. senator.

Joe Crain, a WICS-TV staff member since 2004, disappeared from the weather report after ad-libbing June 5 about the “Code Red” moniker that station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group implemented as a severe-weather alert.

Reflecting the frustration of a community that believes the brand is overused and often alarms viewers unnecessarily, Crain said, “It’s all-inclusive, it doesn’t recognize that not all storms are created equal.”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/6/10/18660672/joe-crain-weather-wics-code-red-springfield

[jmyrlefuller]

This is one of the reasons Sinclair has a bad reputation. It's not just politics. They gobble up stations and micromanage them, sometimes without regard for ethics. (They're not the only ones, either. Sinclair gets the bad rap because they lean to the right, but Nexstar, Tegna, Scripps... they all follow a similar one-size-fits-all-markets approach.)

[EdJames]

Sinclair always makes me think of dinosaurs...

[Wingnut]

I loved their gas!  Dino was a cool mascot.

[Cyber Liberty]

I loved their gas!  Dino was a cool mascot.

When I was a kid I had one of their blow-up Dinos.

[Wingnut]

When I was a kid I had one of their blow-up Dinos.

Fun Fact:  “We’re About as American as it Gets.” This slogan was used in mass media advertising and on distributor and dealer communication. It refers to the fact that Sinclair is the last major oil company that is 100% American-owned, and whose feed stocks* come exclusively from North America.

_{*Crude oil is a feedstock in a refining process which produces gasoline}

[EdJames]

When I was a kid I had one of their blow-up Dinos.

I had one too!  And a smaller solid plastic one.

It was a fun brand.

[Dexter]

Of course they over-hype everything. That's SOP for the news these days.

[mountaineer]

I'm guessing Joe was about to be replaced anyway.

[Wingnut]

I had one too!  And a smaller solid plastic one.

It was a fun brand.

Dino was a brontosaurus. 

[txradioguy]

I loved their gas!  Dino was a cool mascot.

They still have Sinclair stations out in this neck of the woods.  I pass their big refinery in Wyoming when I travel to Idaho to see the kids.

[Wingnut]

They still have Sinclair stations out in this neck of the woods.  I pass their big refinery in Wyoming when I travel to Idaho to see the kids.

I think I saw when the split off of ARCO they stayed west of the Mississippi and ARCO brand was used east.  Or something like that back in the 80's.

[roamer_1]

They still have Sinclair stations out in this neck of the woods.  I pass their big refinery in Wyoming when I travel to Idaho to see the kids.

YEP, They are around up in here, though I don't think we have one in town right now...
Makes no real difference, their gas comes up on the Conoco truck...