which was fabricated to spread a lot of distortions prior to the election. I hope their entire organization goes down the tubes.
Just found this article which says they were struggling last year, BEFORE they ran that "movie,"
Stolen Honor, Wounds That Never Heal.Among the decisions that raised the ire of many investors and public-interest advocates:
• Since 2002 Sinclair has produced and distributed costly news and mostly conservative-opinion segments, called News Central, about national and international affairs for stations' local newscasts. While Sinclair describes the package as a cheaper way to offer news, analysts question why its small stations need to air news at all.
• Also related to news, in at least 11 regulatory filings last year and this year, Sinclair blamed the Iraq war for $2.2 million in lost ad revenue. Sinclair's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission say the Iraq conflict prompted advertisers to cancel or forced stations to pre-empt ads for news.
• Until last summer, Sinclair has vigorously opposed the transition to digital television. The company said it wanted a technical standard that would make it easier for homes to receive over-the-air signals on indoor antennas. But critics said Sinclair put its interests ahead of the country's, and angered regulators, by trying to put off the expense of converting to digital TV.
• Sinclair has an ongoing battle with Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. The group has asked the Federal Communications Commission to rescind some Sinclair station licenses and keep it from buying more. The group says Sinclair used a minority-run company it controls to improperly create duopolies — ownership of two TV stations in a market — in cities such as Oklahoma City and Dayton, Ohio.
In a seeming counterattack, Sinclair has asked a Georgia court for permission to review videotapes submitted in a lawsuit against Rainbow/PUSH by a former employee.
(snip/...)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-10-18-sinclair-broadcasting-woes_x.htm~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David SmithSmith treats the public airwaves as his private fiefdom, strong-arming local newscasters to pledge loyalty to President Bush while forcing Sinclair’s 62 stations to air blatantly partisan programs that suit his narrow political agenda. With the help of on-air hatchet men Mark Hyman and Don Hammond, Smith beams Sinclair’s extreme bias into as many as 20 million American homes.
And he’s not done yet. Smith is now forging a deal with the nation’s largest cable companies that could allow Sinclair to increase — potentially by over 500 percent — the number of stations via which it can spread its political agenda. If Sinclair’s past is prologue, this will strike another blow to the diversity of our airwaves.
Sinclair requires most of its stations to air a news segment called “The Point,” during which right-wing bootlicker Mark Hyman routinely launches broadsides against presidential foes. Last October, just weeks before Americans went to the polls, Sinclair told all of its 62 stations to air an aggressively anti-Kerry documentary as a last-ditch effort hand the election to Bush. Almost every Sinclair station is obligated to broadcast content produced by the company’s Maryland-based news operation, the aptly named “News Central,” which spins out “news” of the world that bears a remarkable resemblance to White House propaganda.
(snip/...)
http://www.freepress.net/hallofshame/bios.php?id=smith~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~You may remember David Smith also had time enough in his busy life as a right-wing sociopath to get picked up in a prostitution sting.
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