Sinclair Broadcasting Group is rolling out a new digital play: a daily video podcast called The National Press, built from the reporting of its 178 local news stations. The show runs about 30 minutes and is designed for viewers who have left behind traditional TV but still want local stories in a national context.
The National Press draws on the work of approximately 1,200 Sinclair journalists based in more than 60 local content centers, highlighting the scale of editorial resources behind the digital product.
The launch isn’t just about a new format. Sinclair has teamed up with New Media, the company behind Bari Weiss’s The Free Press. Both The National Press and The Free Press run on Substack. New Media staffers help create content and keep the site running. In exchange, New Media gets a cut of Sinclair’s Substack revenue, according to Axios reporter Sara Fischer.
Right now, anyone can watch The National Press for free. Paid subscribers get ad-free viewing, access to a community chat, and merchandise. Subscriptions start at $5 a month or $50 a year. So far, engagement is low: the first five posts have picked up between seven and 14 likes each.
Sinclair has clarified that New Media receives a monthly production fee and a share of The National Press’s revenue, not just a percentage of subscriptions, under the terms of their partnership.
This week’s episode covers Michigan’s review of lifetime sentences for people convicted between ages 18 and 20, and includes reporting from Capitol Hill journalist Ahtra Elnashar on Congressional debates over AI regulation. The show isn’t taped straight through-viewers may spot Keith in different outfits within the same episode, a sign of its digital-first, flexible production style.
The National Press also puts out shorter videos. One recent segment, “Worth Noticing: School Bus Incidents,” runs just two minutes and compiles reports of school bus crashes from across the country. The text asks direct questions about safety, staffing, and training, and invites viewers to share their own stories. This approach shows the show’s push to get people talking about urgent local issues.
Sinclair has tried digital news before. In 2015, it launched Circa, a site aimed at millennials, but shut it down after four years. The National Press is a new attempt to reach younger, video-focused audiences by using Sinclair’s local reporting muscle and Substack’s distribution tools.
Sinclair’s move signals that big broadcasters are ready to repackage their news for new platforms and revenue streams. By working with New Media and using Substack’s infrastructure, Sinclair can skip old syndication models and try direct-to-consumer subscriptions. But the early numbers show that turning a legacy TV audience into loyal digital subscribers won’t be easy. The National Press still has to prove it can turn local news into a national show that people will pay for. Other projects, like the Library Newsroom Project, are also testing new ways to deliver local news, and many in the industry are watching to see if Sinclair’s approach can bridge the gap between old-school journalism and digital-native formats.
