Sinclairs Airs Anti-Kerry material

[Massacure]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=716&e=7&u=/ap/20041023/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_film

BALTIMORE - Sinclair Broadcast's program featuring material from a documentary critical of John Kerry aired Friday night, devoting as much coverage to the controversy as the film that sparked the uproar.

On Tuesday, the company — whose executives are Republican contributors — announced the program would appear on 40 stations and would feature parts, but not all, of "Stolen Honor," which consists of interviews with U.S. prisoners of war who survived imprisonment in Hanoi and remain enraged at Kerry for joining the anti-war movement after he completed his Vietnam service.

The announcement came after critics and shareholders protested following reports that the program would air on all 62 of Sinclair's stations.

Kerry did not appear in the program, but comments he made on the issue on the campaign trail were presented. The Kerry campaign issued a statement afterward saying Sinclair executives have given more than $100,000 to George W. Bush and the Republican Party.

[Rose Siding]

1. The protests got some coverage

snip>
In Charleston, W.Va., about 100 people gathered in the parking lot of Sinclair-affiliate WCHS-TV, carrying banners bearing the names of soldiers killed in Iraq (news - web sites), Kerry campaign material and an inflatable 13-foot rat with a "Sinclair Broadcast" sign tied around its neck.
------------------

Every progressive community needs an inflatable 13 ft rat! Think of the versatility... Especially in Texas!

[Say_What]

32. "an inflatable 13-foot rat with a "Sinclair Broadcast" ...

this is super :bounce:

[Dem2theMax]

2. "Sinclair Airs Anti-Kerry material"

Democrats forever boycott Sinclair advertisers.

I'm game. How 'bout the rest of you?

[GinaMaria]

4. I'm in

[crossroads]

6. Count me in too!

:bounce:

[0007]

36. I'm in!

[goclark]

43. I'm in, lead me to the Companies ! nt

[UpInArms]

7. no problem with that for me.

fascist corporatists can just stuff their crap back in the box - no sales here.

[ElectroPrincess]

20. Yes, already have said my "farewells" to both

Chili's, Applebees and Best Buy. I was polite but insisted that I did not want to have the restaurants I frequented to sport political slogans. Our family went to eat at the local Chili's last Sunday AND I kid you NOT = *every waitress* had a Bush-Cheney sticker on the back of their order pads.

Corporations should at least attempt an air of decorum and non-partisan bias, i.e., although we all know that our Corporate Masters are fed by Republicans.

[shanti]

39. ugh!

i'll never eat at chili's again.

[demokatgurrl]

45. I think Chili's is on the verge of bankruptcy- a good boycott

could drive them over the edge. And now that I read about all the waitresses having Bush stickers, I don't even feel sympathy for them. Let Sinclair hire them.

[NVMojo]

48. how sickening, no more chilis for me, either.

[GRLMGC]

46. wow

That's not inappropriate

'sarcasm'

[mbperrin]

23. I'm in. It's the only response they will understand.

nt

[Iceburg]

28. Lets make it global -- I'm In

[GoSolar]

42. Me too.

And my family.

[genius]

3. So was it as bad as we expected?

I don't want any more surprises in this campaign.

[Mira]

5. SINCLAIR

Did not see the first 10 min. which supposedly were the hard hitting anti Kerry minutes.
The rest did not bother me a bit, showed Bush lying, but what's new about that? And Kerry came off fine.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi Mira!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[JohnnyCougar]

10. It was actually pretty balanced.

you should have seen how pissed the freepers were. they were expecting it to be an hour long Kerry bash fest.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TorchTheWitch]

15. uh...

thanks to their little brown buddy Michael.

"brown"? Wouldn't you say that's rather racist? I'm certainly no fan of Michael Powell, but surely you didn't have to use a racist comment to discredit him.

[ElectroPrincess]

44. I wouldn't be so tough on folks ...

I believe this individual was mocking the Republican racists "little brown people"

Right wing radical republicans LOATH the thought of Latino/a and "people of color" having any true power. Enter the tokens - The Powell's, Judge Thomas, Our labor freeper secretary - Elaine Chow (sp?) and Ms. Rice to name a few.

Along with what THEY (right wingers) call upstanding Hispanic and Black "right wing" Judges, is one of the most *fail safe* republican racist plans to further their agenda.

One woman of color stated on CSPAN a while back, "Just because you look like me doesn't mean that you are on our people's side."

If there's any fall out, the Democrats can't harshly criticize these token water carriers for the Right wingers without them accusing us of racism.

These jack booted thugs (radical right wing freepers) have no shame. :(

[crossroads]

9. Posted On Yahoo Board

"during the summer of 1996, Sinclair CEO David Smith was arrested in Baltimore for picking up a prostitute who performed what police called an "unnatural and perverted sex act" on him as he drove on the highway in a company-owned Mercedes. Smith was convicted of a misdemeanor sex offense."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/102304C.shtml

:bounce:

[despairing optimist]

13. Is there any chance Howard Stern can interview the hooker?

I'd love a, um, blow by blow description of Smith as well as the events.

[joemamabush com]

11. here we have a music video

I created this song back in 2000 one week after the election then just recently added the video I been on two talk shows and distributed this throughout a few congress members and senator Kerry and Edwards got copies as well I recived a letter from Bill Clinton and Michale Whouley general election strategist they say lets get it done Kerry will win this election look at the video download the song free. www.joemamabush.com go for it kerry 2004

[newyawker99]

19. Hi joemamabush com!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Carolab]

12. It goes WAY beyond Stolen Honor--it's STOLEN AIRWAVES PEOPLE!

Tonight, millions of television viewers, many of them in heavily contested swing-voter states, will be able to switch their sets to “A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media,” a Sinclair Broadcast Group program that purports to examine the influence of documentaries and other media on the elections.

The "news special" represents a compromise by Sinclair, after a firestorm of protest sidelined the company's earlier plan to air “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal,” an “aggressively anti-Kerry documentary” over its 62 local stations.

But it remains to be seen whether Sinclair’s final program, which will contain scenes from "Stolen Honor," will be any less partisan. Questions linger as to why Sinclair -- a company that was granted free access to our public airwaves -- would think it could get away with such a crass, last-ditch effort to influence the outcome of a national election.

The fact is, very few rules remain in place to hold a broadcaster to even-handed service of the public. The government’s policies have encouraged media concentration and empowered media conglomerates, which return the favor by trying to sway public opinion towards candidates that are more amenable to their political and business agenda.

Sinclair’s action should be a wake-up call for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell. Powell has the power to tell broadcasters that misuse of our public airwaves comes at a cost. He has the power to hold Big Media companies to the notion that -- in the words of the Supreme Court -- it is the “right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount.” But Powell's actions over the last four years tell a different story: about a media regulator who wants his lasting legacy to be the concentration of American media into the hands of a few corporations.

The Big Media Giveaway

Now, new technology has enabled big media to become even stronger. The transition to digital television lets Sinclair, and every other over-the-air broadcaster, create up to six channels of programming in the broadcast space it now uses to broadcast one. That means that Sinclair’s 62 stations will have the programming power of 372 channels.

This huge giveaway to broadcasters is worth tens of billions of dollars. If companies like Sinclair get their wish, and regulators require cable companies to carry all their new digital programs, their reach and influence will become even more powerful.

Now is the time for you to act. Before the FCC votes to give broadcasters another billion-dollar giveaway, they must require them to uphold meaningful and measurable public interest obligations so the public isn’t fed a steady diet of Sinclair style “news.” With clearer limitations in place, broadcasters that fail to serve their audiences will put renewal of their licenses at risk. The FCC must act on our behalf now; our democracy is at stake.

Here's what you can do:

The Center for Digital Democracy, MediaChannel, Media for Democracy and Common Cause today launched "The Big Giveaway" an action ad to pressure Powell to put the public's interests before Big Media's. Please take a look at "The Big Giveaway" and pass it on to friends and colleagues.

http://www.hmprojects.com/thebiggiveaway.html

What's At Stake:

Very few rules remain in place to hold a broadcaster to even-handed service of the public. The government’s policies have encouraged media concentration and empowered media conglomerates, which return the favor by trying to sway public opinion towards candidates that are more amenable to their political and business agenda.

Sinclair’s action should be a wake-up call for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell. Powell has the power to tell broadcasters that misuse of our public airwaves comes at a cost. He has the power to hold Big Media companies to the notion that -- in the words of the Supreme Court -- it is the “right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount.” But Powell's actions over the last four years tell a different story: about a media regulator who wants his lasting legacy to be the concentration of American media into the hands of a few corporations.

. . . Read the full story and TAKE ACTION at http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/affalert283.shtml

http://www.mediafordemocracy.us/campaign/sinclair1

[high density]

14. Interesting headline

While clips of "Stolen Honor" did air during this so-called "news" program, "Going Upriver" was represented as well. Overall I'd say it was about wash and not much worse than watching MSNBC, CNN, or Fox News for an hour.

[tinrobot]

16. Interesting

Nice to know our activism at least got it watered down.

[timezoned]

17. If it was balanced then

it was balanced. I didn't see it, so I'm taking the word of others here.

Two points:

If they backed off from the pressure -- and it looks like they definitely did, that first press release said "the film stolen honor will be shown", plain and simple -- then people should acknowldege a victory and acknowledge that they changed it to be more fair.

The other issue, of the quest by them and others to further monopolize has already been hurt badly by this.

In other words I would think best response would be:

A) We're not buying the claim that "this was the intent all along", that's clearly bogus.

B) We're glad they backed down, that's good in all ways, for us, for them, for democracy.

C) This all just shows how scary it is for media companies to have near-monopolies and should wake everyone up.

My two cents anyway.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

22. excuse me

no one is forcing stations to pre-emt regular programming to force them to show F911

[AnyMajorDudeTellYou]

25. Nobody is forcing me to watch anything on TV

Where do they force people to watch any given TV program?

[bettyellen]

40. it's pretending to be news

some people have only broadcast stations and have a few channels to look at- 3 big ones, affiliates of cbs, nbc and abc. . , and when 30% plus of the swing state market is given a special commercial free presentation, and this is paid for by the nra and other partisan extremeists, it is what it is-- a big illegal giveaway to bush. and all this was decided by one big donor who no doubt was put in this situation by govt deregulation. obviously, he's reallly happy about the deregulation, but should we be? it's not freedom of the airwaves if you have to be a mogul to get you messgae acrosss. it's nothing to make light of. it's propaganda. it's not news, but it is displacing the news. It's scary.

[sonicx]

24. F911 didn't air on tv, buddy

would that be fine with you?

[AnyMajorDudeTellYou]

26. f911 aired on my TV when I put in the DVD

And if some other program came on after I was done and I didn't want to watch it I simply changed the channel. None of us are forced to watch that which we disagree with.

[doreme]

27. Let's see, I live in the mid-west and

I can watch more exciting campaign related programming, or I can watch my beloved St. Louis Cardinals play in game one of the World Series. That's a tough choice alright. Good timing Sinclair!

[AlCzervik]

31. public airwaves are a lot diffferent then a movie you pay to see

[cosmicone]

29. Is it only me or

do any of you also suspect that AnyMajorDudeTellYou is exhibiting freeper arguments?

His post was identical to what freepers have been saying without realizing that F-911 was a product that people paid for and didn't appear in their homes unsolicited whereas Sinclair's stunt was an abuse of the fiduciary responsibility of managing PUBLIC airwaves.

I just don't want to feel like I'm paranoid here!

[Amigust]

34. I'd be surprised if there were not Repubs coming onto DU aiming to

steer opinion their way from time to time.

[NeoConsSuck]

30. So then you agree that Sinclair was wrong..

to not allow the showing of the ABC Nightline episode, when they paid tribute to the soldiers who died in Iraq?

I'm curious as to what your position on Sinclair is?

[Democat]

38. Except Moore tells the truth and your guys are liars

Other than that, keep on believing what you know isn't true. :)

[lucky777]

33. Saw the Protest yesterday in Columbus Ohio

Drove past Sinclair yesterday on Rte 33 at 6:00 and saw the protest signs. I would have joined if I had known of it. One sign said "Sinclair = Bush's Whore" Just to say thanks to the people who make the protest!

[Amigust]

35. I watched it and was amused at the creative editing of video

clips to tip it their way whenever they could.

Also their persistent LIE that the show they aired was the one that all the activism was about for the past week. It was not.

Their insipid attempts to appear fair and balanced had the appearance of a duck in a chicken costume. The waddle was still obvious.

Take a look at Newsday's article on it for a non-Yahoo! rendering that gets to the heart of the matter.

"But that was the big lie at the heart of the broadcast - that anyone was trying to keep Sinclair from doing a one-hour report about Kerry's war record. The controversy and outrage during the week was about Sinclair's original plan to force its 62 stations to carry an anti-Kerry exercise in propaganda, "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," on the eve of the election."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-ussinc234016709oct23,0,7280381.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

[Dcitizen]

37. showing at Seatles!!!!

Stolen Honor Playing Now! 'Forbidden Films about John Kerry' playing now on DirectTV, channel 375
DISH TV 9410 | 10/23/04 | M

Stolen Honor is shoing now on DishTV in the Seattle area. Not sure if it's playing nationally. Channel 9410

Unverified sources

[Sterling]

41. Sounds like PA TV

Anything on Dish TV like that is most likely someones PA or indie vanity station. That is fine if they want to play that there. People will be playing F911 on PA TV as well, that is their right. If you have an FCC liscense and it then there is a problem as broadcast TV belongs to the public and cannot be used for partisan efforts.

[dansolo]

47. Did they have McCain on?

John McCain is one of the highest profile POWs from Vietnam, and he has discounted the claims of "Stolen Honor". If they truly wanted to be "fair and balanced", shouldn't they have interviewed him?