Why Sinclair Made Dozens of Local News Anchors Recite the Same Script

On local news stations across the United States, dozens of anchors gave the same speech to their combined millions of viewers. It included a warning about fake news, a promise to report fairly and accurately and a request that viewers go to the station’s website and comment “if you believe our coverage is unfair.” It may not have seemed strange until viewers began to notice that the newscasters from Seattle to Phoenix to Washington sounded very similar. The script came from Sinclair Broadcast Group, the country’s largest broadcaster, which owns or operates 193 television stations. Scott Livingston, the senior vice president of news for Sinclair, had read almost the exact same speech for a segment that was distributed to outlets a year ago.