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.”
