Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation's largest TV broadcaster, is playing defense after Deadspin unleashed a video over the weekend showing anchors at its 170-plus local news stations reading the exact same warning about the "troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country," the "sharing of biased and false news" and "fake stories" on social media, and the "members of the media [who] use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think," which "is extremely dangerous to our democracy."
The video went viral in part because of Sinclair's conservative bent and pending expansion, and because having dozens of news anchors reading the same warning about bias and "fake" news, localized and not mentioning that it came from corporate headquarters, was a little creepy. On Monday, Sinclair's vice president of news, Scott Livingston, defended his "corporate news journalistic responsibility promotional campaign" in both an internal memo obtained by CNN and public statements.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Experts are split on the findings in RFK Jr.'s 'MAHA' reportIn the Spotlight The HHS secretary's report targeted processed foods and vaccines, among other things
-
Jony Ive changed the world with the iPhone. Can he do it again with OpenAI?Talking Points Ive is joining OpenAI, hoping to create another transformative piece of personal technology. Can lightning strike twice?
-
Elon Musk says he's 'done enough' political spending. What does that really mean?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The world's richest man predicted he'd do 'a lot less' electoral financing moving forward. Has Washington seen the last of the tech titan?
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
