HUNT VALLEY, Maryland — Sinclair has expanded The National News Desk, adding a 5 p.m. edition in 12 television markets and daytime half-hour editions in 21 markets.
The expansion places additional nationally produced news programming on Sinclair stations in communities including Seattle, Washington; Nashville, Tennessee; Baltimore, Maryland; Mobile, Alabama; Savannah, Georgia; Reno, Nevada; and several smaller markets.
Taylor Murray anchors the new 5 p.m. edition. Jan Jeffcoat anchors the daytime program with Live Desk anchor Mark Boyle and national reporter Angela Brown.
More news hours—but how much more local reporting?
Sinclair says the expansion increases timely news programming and uses reporting from its local newsrooms around the country. The National News Desk, which launched in 2021, now airs on 90 stations through morning, afternoon, evening, late-night and weekend editions.
The key distinction is between additional news airtime and additional local journalism. A nationally assembled program can carry reporting from local stations, but it does not automatically add reporters, photographers or producers to the newsroom serving each individual market.
Radio News Now will be watching what the new programs replace, how much community-specific material each station inserts and whether local news directors retain control over story selection. Sinclair has not identified how many jobs, if any, were created specifically for the expansion.
Markets receiving the new editions
The 5 p.m. edition is being added in Seattle, Nashville, Baltimore, Columbus, Mobile, Wilkes-Barre, Flint, Savannah, Charleston, New Bern, Reno and Chico. Daytime editions are entering 21 markets, including St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Grand Rapids, Oklahoma City, Birmingham, Omaha, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Eugene, Bakersfield, Corpus Christi and Gainesville.
The first useful measure will not be the number of newscasts on the schedule. It will be the amount of original reporting viewers receive from the communities where those stations are licensed.