{"id":878,"date":"2018-04-02T21:45:46","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T01:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=878"},"modified":"2018-04-02T21:45:46","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T01:45:46","slug":"sinclair-made-dozens-of-local-news-anchors-recite-the-same-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=878","title":{"rendered":"Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

By\u00a0JACEY FORTIN<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0JONAH ENGEL BROMWICH\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
\u201cUnfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think,\u201d dozens of news anchors said last month, reading from a script provided by Sinclair Broadcast Group.<\/span>\u00a0Credit<\/span>fronch, via YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On local news stations across the United States last month, dozens of anchors gave the same speech to their combined millions of viewers.<\/p>\n

It included a warning about fake news, a promise to report fairly and accurately and a request that viewers go to the station\u2019s website and comment \u201cif you believe our coverage is unfair.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It may not have seemed strange to individual viewers. But Timothy Burke, the video director at Deadspin, had read\u00a0a report<\/a>\u00a0last month<\/a>\u00a0from CNN<\/a>, which quoted local station anchors who were uncomfortable with the speech.<\/p>\n

Mr. Burke tracked down the Sinclair affiliates and found when they had aired what he called a \u201cforced read.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he\u00a0stitched together<\/a>\u00a0the various broadcasts to create a supercut of anchors eerily echoing the same lines:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSome members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cThis is extremely dangerous to our democracy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The script came from Sinclair Broadcast Group, the country\u2019s largest broadcaster, which owns or operates 193 television stations. The company is\u00a0seeking a $3.9 billion deal<\/a>\u00a0to buy Tribune Media, a move that\u2019s being held up by regulators over antitrust concerns.<\/p>\n

Last week, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer\u00a0published a copy of the speech<\/a>\u00a0and reported that employees at a local news station there, KOMO, were unhappy about the script. CNN\u00a0reported on it<\/a>\u00a0on March 7 and said Scott Livingston, the senior vice president of news for Sinclair, had read\u00a0almost the exact same speech<\/a>\u00a0for a segment that was distributed to outlets a year ago.<\/p>\n

[READ MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0A Top Internal Watchdog For the F.C.C. Is Investigating Changes That Benefited Sinclair<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Mr. Burke\u2019s video \u2014\u00a0along with a similar one created by ThinkProgress<\/a>, the left-leaning news outlet \u2014 spread quickly on social media over the weekend, leading to prominent criticism of Sinclair. Peter Chernin, a media investor and longtime president of Rupert Murdoch\u2019s News Corporation, called it \u201cinsidious<\/a>.\u201d David E. Price, a Democratic North Carolina congressman, called the video\u00a0\u201cpro-Trump propaganda\u201d<\/a>\u00a0on Monday.<\/p>\n

Piggybacking on the attention, House Democrats\u00a0resurfaced a letter<\/a>, dated March 22 and signed by 38 lawmakers, that called for the Tribune merger to be rejected.<\/p>\n

President Trump responded to scrutiny of the broadcaster on Monday in a tweet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In a statement on Monday, Scott Livingston, Sinclair\u2019s senior vice president of news, called the backlash \u201cironic,\u201d and said the stations \u201ckeep our audiences\u2019 trust by staying focused on fact-based reporting and clearly identifying commentary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t sure of the motivation for the criticism, but find it curious that we would be attacked for asking our news people to remind their audiences that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media, which result in an ill-informed public with potentially dangerous consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A union that represents news anchors did not respond immediately to requests for comment on Monday.<\/p>\n

Dave Twedell of the International Cinematographers Guild, who is a business representative for photojournalists (but not anchors) at KOMO in Seattle and KATU in Portland, Ore., said Sinclair told journalists at those stations not to discuss the company with outside news media.<\/p>\n