No Pundit Left Behind (Armstrong Williams double-dipping on Sinclair)

[kskiska]

Before Armstrong Williams pocketed $240,000 from the Department of Education, he conducted a flattering interview with outgoing Education Secretary Rod Paige for Sinclair Broadcasting.

Sinclair Broadcasting made headlines last year by aligning itself with partisan, conservative forces and pushing a political agenda. In May, the media conglomerate refused to air "Nightline" when Ted Koppel read aloud the names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. (Antiwar propaganda, Sinclair executives claimed.) Then, in late fall, Sinclair pushed forward a one-sided, anti-John Kerry documentary on the eve of the election. In both cases, while ignoring charges of bias, Sinclair bosses seemed to relish their time in the spotlight.

But now Sinclair is getting burned by one of its conservative stars and the media company is running for the shadows. In the wake of news that its on-air mainstay, conservative talk-show host and syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams, pocketed $240,000 from the Department of Education in exchange for hyping a White House education initiative, Sinclair is going out of its way to distance itself from its prime-time pundit. The company has also asked Williams to clear up the misleading impression that it carries his syndicated TV show on dozens of its stations.

"We're seriously reviewing our relationship" with Williams, says Carl Gottlieb, managing editor of Sinclair's corporate news division.

(snip)

He was clearly double-dipping," says one former Sinclair producer. "He was getting paid $240,000 and getting paid as a commentator by Sinclair. When I read the USA Today story on Friday I was aghast, as anybody in this business would be. Then the first thing I thought about was Williams' interview with Paige and then a light went off."

The producer recalls the Williams-Paige sit-down as being the "single worst interview I've seen in my career. It was nothing but softball questions. In retrospect, it was clearly part of Armstrong's way of getting paid" by the DOE. (Weeks later, Williams conducted a similar interview with Vice President Dick Cheney, pitching him such easy questions as, "Why do you think the media is so obsessed in trying to tie you to Halliburton?")

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2005/01/12/armstrong/index.html

[Kelvin Mace]

1. LOL!!! Couldn't happen to nicer folks

Willy boy, neocons are all in favor of cheating the little guy, but they hate to be cheated. In fact, they can be murderously vindictive about it.

David Allen
www.thoughtcrimes.org

The taste of Republican butt does not improve with age.

"The NeoCons can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They do not feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.

[Pirate Smile]

2. I'm surprised Sinclair isn't on the payroll or are they?

:think:

[shraby]

3. They probably are and are afraid

if people look too close at Armstrong, they'll find the ties that bind.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. "Why do you think the media is so obsessed in trying to tie you to

Halliburton."

Oh, that is just priceless.

[sarcasmo]

5. This is going to be a big snowball rolling down hill.

Sinclair, and Clear Channel are big President Scrooge backers and I sure hope Williams names who else is taking these kick backs. The next four years are going to be so good watching the Repukes fry themselves. Rush=drug addict/ O'reilly = Vibrator scandal/ Williams = sold is soul for 240,000. President Scrooge = liar, what a bizarre next four years this will be.