Investigation · Media Ownership Hub

The illusion of local news.

Q: Isn't it normal for a company to require its stations to run corporate content?

Yes — 'must-runs' are legal and common, and we say so. The concern critics raise isn't legality; it's scale and disguise. When one owner controls ~190 stations and the mandatory content is political messaging delivered by trusted local anchors who look independent, the audience can't tell corporate script from local judgment. That's the specific issue this page documents, not the mere existence of syndicated content.

Dozens of trusted local anchors, in dozens of cities, reading the same script about “biased and false news” — word for word, at the same time. One company owned them all.

This page documents how Sinclair Broadcast Group — the largest owner of local television stations in the country — uses its scale to push a centralized political message through outlets that audiences trust as their own hometown news. It reports what Sinclair required its stations to air, who it hired to say it, and what its own chairman told the President — and it credits the company's defenses and the one time a Trump-appointed regulator told it no.

The record ↓Where we draw the line

§1 · Summary Brief

What this page is about

In spring 2018, a montage went viral: anchor after anchor at local stations across the country, reading an identical corporate script that warned of “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.” The stations looked independent. They were not. All were owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which had ordered the segment as a “must-run” — content local stations are required to air. Sinclair is the largest owner of local TV stations in the United States, with roughly 190 of them.

The must-run was not an isolated event. Sinclair employed a former Trump White House aide, Boris Epshteyn, to deliver mandatory pro-Trump commentary; its chairman, David D. Smith, reportedly told Trump his company was there to “deliver your message”; and Sinclair nearly doubled its footprint through a merger that would have reached most of the country — until a Trump-appointed FCC chairman moved to block it. We lay out each of these, credit Sinclair's defenses, and are careful to separate what is documented from what is disputed.

What we are NOT saying

We are not claiming Sinclair's newsrooms are a coordinated arm of any campaign, and we are not asserting as fact the “deal” a Trump aide once described — the company's chairman denied it, and we report both. Requiring stations to air corporate segments is legal, and Sinclair says the viral promo was about journalistic standards, not partisanship; we include that. What we document is the structure: one owner, many trusted “local” voices, one script.

The record, in order

2 entries · scroll →

Every dated event on this page, assembled chronologically. The page may cover events in a different order for the narrative; this is the straight timeline.

§2 · The Record

One owner, one script, many “local” voices

Sinclair's 'must-run' script: dozens of local anchors reading identical words (2018)

FACT

In late March 2018, the sports site Deadspin compiled footage of anchors at Sinclair-owned stations across the country reading an identical script that warned of 'the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country' and 'the sharing of biased and false news.' The language echoed President Trump's 'fake news' attacks on the press. Sinclair — the nation's largest owner of local TV stations, with roughly 190 — had distributed the segment as a 'must-run,' meaning local stations were required to air it. The montage went viral precisely because it made visible what centralized ownership can do: turn dozens of trusted local newscasts into a single voice. Trump publicly defended Sinclair amid the backlash.

“The troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country... biased and false news. — the Sinclair 'must-run' script, 2018”

'We are here to deliver your message': the chairman, the President, and a disputed deal.

FACT

Sinclair's executive chairman, David D. Smith, reportedly told Donald Trump in a 2016 meeting that his company was 'here to deliver your message. Period.' Separately, Jared Kushner told a private gathering after the election that the Trump campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair — greater access to the candidate in exchange for airing his interviews without commentary, for 'straighter' coverage. Here we are careful: the existence of a formal 'deal' is disputed. Smith publicly denied any special arrangement, saying he was 'pissed off' at Kushner's characterization. So the chairman's 'deliver your message' remark and Kushner's claim are on the record — but the 'deal' itself is a claim met with a denial, and we grade it accordingly, not as established fact. Smith also met with Trump's FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, as Sinclair pursued the loosening of media-ownership limits.

The White House-to-anchor-desk pipeline: Boris Epshteyn's mandatory commentary.

FACT

In April 2017, Boris Epshteyn — a former Trump campaign spokesman and special assistant in the Trump White House press operation — joined Sinclair as its chief political analyst. His pro-Trump commentary segments were distributed as 'must-runs' and aired on Sinclair local stations around the country from 2017 until 2019, when Sinclair discontinued the political must-run segments as it said it was moving toward investigative reporting. A political operative moving directly from the White House to a mandatory slot inside hundreds of local newscasts is the clearest illustration of the arrangement this page documents — and we note that Sinclair ultimately ended it.

The merger that would have reached most of America — killed by a Trump FCC.

FACT

In 2017 Sinclair agreed to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, a deal that would have extended its reach to roughly 59% of US television households. It did not happen — and the reason complicates any simple story of Sinclair as a captured state broadcaster. Trump's own FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, expressed 'serious concerns' that Sinclair's proposed station divestitures were a sham that would let it keep control of stations 'in name' only, and the commission voted to refer the deal to an administrative law judge, a step that usually kills a merger. The deal collapsed in August 2018; Tribune terminated the agreement and sued, and the FCC later fined Sinclair $48 million. We feature this rather than bury it: even a friendly regulator drew a line.

§3 · Where We Draw the Line

What this page does — and refuses to do

We carry Sinclair's defenses. The company says the viral promo was a routine message about journalistic standards, not partisan messaging; requiring stations to air corporate segments is legal; and Sinclair ended the political must-runs in 2019. All of that is on the page.
The “deal” is a claim, not a finding. A Trump aide described an access-for-coverage arrangement; the chairman denied it. We report both and grade it as disputed — we do not assert it happened.
We feature the inconvenient fact. Trump's own FCC chairman blocked Sinclair's biggest expansion. A story that left that out to sharpen the villainy would be less true, so we lead with it in the merger section.
The structure is the story. This is not about any one anchor, who had no choice but to read the script. It is about what it means when one owner can put identical words in hundreds of “local” mouths at once.

§4 · Why It Matters

Local news is trusted because it feels like yours

Americans consistently trust local news more than national outlets, precisely because it feels independent and close to home. That trust is the asset consolidation can spend. When a single company owns the anchors in Seattle and Raleigh and Little Rock, a “must-run” turns that trust into distribution — the same message, delivered in a familiar voice, as if it were local judgment. Sinclair is the clearest case, but the mechanism is the point, and it is why this sits in the Media Ownership hub beside the other studies of who controls what you get to know, and cross-links Sowing Division, where the “fake news” framing it amplified is tracked. None of it requires a secret order from anyone — ownership alone is enough.

§5 · FAQ

Questions worth taking seriously

Isn't it normal for a company to require its stations to run corporate content?

Yes — “must-runs” are legal and common, and we say so. The concern critics raise isn't legality; it's scale and disguise. When one owner controls ~190 stations and the mandatory content is political messaging delivered by trusted local anchors who look independent, the audience can't tell corporate script from local judgment. That's the specific issue this page documents, not the mere existence of syndicated content.

Was there really a 'deal' between Sinclair and the Trump campaign?

That's disputed, and we don't assert it. Jared Kushner told a private gathering that the campaign traded access for commentary-free interviews and “straighter” coverage; Sinclair chairman David Smith publicly denied any special arrangement. We report the claim and the denial and grade the “deal” as unresolved. What's not disputed is the must-run script, Boris Epshteyn's mandatory segments, and Smith's reported “deliver your message” remark.

If Sinclair is so pro-Trump, why did his FCC block its merger?

That's exactly the complication we feature rather than hide. Trump's own FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, raised “serious concerns” that Sinclair's divestiture plan was a sham and referred the Tribune deal to an administrative law judge, effectively killing it in 2018. It is a real check on any “Sinclair is state TV” framing — the political alignment was real, but it did not make the company immune to its own friendly regulator.

§6 · Standing Invitation

If you are named on this page

If you are named on this page and believe we have a fact wrong, or have characterized an action unfairly, we want to hear from you and we will correct the record. This page is built from broadcast footage, corporate policy, court and FCC filings, and on-record statements, and it carries Sinclair's defenses and its chairman's denial. Reach us through the contact channels on our mission page.

§7 · Sources