A former reporter for Sinclair Broadcasting Group said on CNN Sunday he would encourage the media company's chief executive to "pull their head out of their ass and start treating their employees well."
Jonathan Beaton appeared on "Reliable Sources" after publishing an op-ed in the Huffington Post describing his experience working for a CBS affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he said he was pressured by Sinclair executives to pursue conservative angles to stories.
He is now fighting the company in court after leaving before his contract expired and getting sued by Sinclair for $5,700.
"Jonathan, real quick, what do you want to see Sinclair do differently, if you could give advice right now to the head of the company?" host Brian Stelter asked.
"I'd tell them to pull their head out of their ass and start treating their employees well," he said.
The crude remark drew a rebuke from Stelter, who said, "It's Sunday morning, Jonathan. Come on."
Beaton went on to say it was a "culture of misogyny and xenophobia" at the station, and he didn't want to see his former colleagues who work there to sustain that.
Sinclair has drawn national media attention after a viral Deadspin video of reporters reading the same promo at Sinclair stations across the country, criticizing fake news. Critics viewed it as an attack on the press much like those that come from President Donald Trump.