Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is asking Sinclair Broadcast Group to provide information about its policies regarding mandated content for local news stations after a viral video showed dozens of anchors repeating the same script.
“This most recent incident continues the troubling history of Sinclair dictating content to its stations, including mandating they run Sinclair-produced segments,” Durbin wrote in a letter to David Smith, Sinclair’s executive chairman, Wednesday. “This practice not only compromises the ability of local reporters to serve the unique interests of their viewers, but it undercuts the journalistic integrity of local news anchors who are required to deliver corporate-scripted messages, at times without providing a disclaimer for their source.”
Sinclair has come under fire after Deadspin published a compilation of segments from Sinclair-owned or operated television stations that featured local news anchors reciting the same script. It was later revealed the script was distributed to stations by Sinclair, which oversees more than 170 stations.
The promo was quickly criticized, and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough referred to the segment as “Trumpian.”
Scott Livingston, senior vice president of news at Sinclair, said the segment was a “corporate news journalistic responsibility campaign” and a “well-researched journalistic initiative focused on fair and objective reporting.”
But Durbin said he was concerned by Sinclair requiring anchors to deliver the message and said the practice “contradicts representations of Sinclair’s policies” a top executive at the company made to his staff in November.
“Sinclair representatives repeatedly represented that Sinclair does not dictate the words or content local reporters deliver and that any national content distributed on Sinclair-owned stations is delivered by an identified national correspondent,” Durbin wrote. “The requirement that local news anchors deliver a scripted promotional message on-air is inconsistent with those representations.”
The Illinois Democrat wants Sinclair to confirm its policy for Sinclair-produced mandated content and explain if employees at local stations will face consequences for refusing to deliver on air the promotional message.
According to reports, employment contracts Sinclair employees have to sign impose a steep financial penalty for leaving the company before their contract is up. Employees are also subject to a six-month non-compete clause.
