Dozens of local TV news anchors were forced to recite a speech about 'false news' controlling 'exactly what people think'

The irony went unnoticed - or at least unstopped - at Sinclair Broadcast Group, which over the last few days has required dozens of new anchors on its roughly 200 local TV stations in the US to read a dark message about "members of the media [who] use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control 'exactly what people think'." The message goes on to warn, "This is extremely dangerous to a democracy."

It also echoes one of President Trump's favorite issues: The idea that the news is always biased. "Some media outlets publish these same fake stories … stories that just aren't true, without checking facts first," Deadspin reported:

"The script, which parrots Donald Trump's oft-declarations of developments negative to his presidency as 'fake news,' brought upheaval to newsrooms already dismayed with Sinclair's consistent interference to bring right-wing propaganda to local television broadcasts."

Deadspin created a compilation of the local anchors reading the script, and the combined effect is really weird, and worth seeing: 

The script does not identify which media outlets it is talking about, or what kind of biases it is asking viewers to be aware of. It ends by suggesting that viewers complain about any bias they see by filling in a form on the local TV station's website. 

NOW WATCH: This transgender activist and former Obama White House intern isn't backing down against Trump