Sinclair Executive Defends Election Special: ‘it was hard-hitting, but it was fair’

By Merrill Knox 

Scott Livingston, Sinclair Broadcasting’s vice president of news, is defending the company’s election special against criticism that it presented an anti-Obama agenda. The special — which aired on six stations in battleground states on Monday night — was  a “continuation of the engagement of the audience and the process of educating them about the topics,” Livingston tells TVNewsCheck:

“No doubt it was hard-hitting, but it was fair,” said VP of News Scott Livingston, who oversees the local news operations of 42 Sinclair stations. “No one is disputing the facts of the stories that aired in the special.”

Livingston said no partisan agenda was at play in producing the show — nor in choosing the markets in which it was played.

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Livingston said Sinclair chose the six markets in which the specials aired because “there is a higher news value there — and we always make decisions based on the news value. These are the markets where those issues resonate.”

Versions of the special aired on WSYX in Columbus, WRGT in Dayton, KGAN in Cedar Rapids, WPEC in West Palm Beach, WEAR in Pensacola and WLOS in Greenville, S.C.

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