WMSN, a Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate in Madison, Wisc., released a statement to viewers regarding the corporate promo campaign that has received nationwide attention.
The Fox affiliate says it decided not to run the promo over the weekend.
“WMSN/FOX47 Madison did not air the Sinclair promotional announcement during our 9 p.m. news this weekend. Rather, we stayed true to our commitment to provide our Madison area viewers local news, weather and sports of interest to them.”
On Saturday, Deadspin created a video montage of Sinclair anchors across the country reading the same script which addressed “one-sided stories” and “fake stories.”
On Monday, Scott Livingston, Sinclair’s senior vice president of news, issued a response to the backlash over the segments to individual stations.
In response to the Sinclair message aired: "WMSN/FOX47 Madison did not air the Sinclair promotional announcement during our 9pm news this weekend. Rather, we stayed true to our commitment to provide our Madison area viewers local news, weather and sports of interest to them." pic.twitter.com/MdQ568cWrH
— FOX 47 Madison (@fox47madison) April 2, 2018
Sinclair owns WMSN, but Madison’s CBS affiliate, WISC produces the news for FOX47. WISC is owned by Morgan Murphy Media.