The Sinclair Broadcasting Local News Script meme originated from a viral video published by Deadspin in 2018, which featured a terrifyingly synchronized montage of local news anchors from various stations across the United States. They were all reading the exact same script warning about the dangers of 'one-sided news stories' on social media, concluding with the chilling phrase 'This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.' The video highlighted concerns about media consolidation and corporate control over local journalism. In meme culture, the template is used to represent mindless repetition, hive-mind behavior, or forced messaging from a central authority, often depicted as a grid of identical speakers.