All News Staff at One Sinclair Station are Told They Need to Chime In (Patreon)

Sinclair has come up with its own picture app called “Chime In.” It’s sort of like Instagram, but without anyone using it. 

So, since the viewers don’t seem that interested in “Chiming In” the staff is being told to do so. 

FTVLive obtained an internal memo sent to the staff at Sinclair's KTUL in Tulsa that demands that ALL news staff is now required to post at least 5 pictures a day to the "Chime In" app. 

"It started with three a day, now we're at five. Apparently, this is something the new GM Allyson Meyers wants so she can monetize the pictures. And since viewers don't send pictures, it's on the staff," said one station insider to FTVLive. 

In other words, a Producer trying to bang out a newscast with a short staff needs to take time out of their day to find 5 pictures to take and post to the app. 

News crews should take time away from covering the news, shooting packages, VO's, their post to Facebook and Twitter and other social media, to find 5 pictures to take and upload to an app that viewers are apparently not interested in. 

The viewers aren't using the app, so now the staff is required to do so to make it look like "it's a thing."

Below is the internal memo sent to the staff by News Director Phillip Bruce and obtained by FTVLive. 

I always worry when the News Director talks about bringing in revenue to the station. Last I looked, this is the sales department's job and not news. 

Newspeople should cover the news, tell the story to the best of their ability and if you ask me, should not be worried about uploading pictures to a failing app, just to make it look good. 

Here's the memo: