Sinclair CEO Caught in 1996 Sex Sting

[Snellius]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)

August 17, 1996, Saturday, SOONER EDITION

David D. Smith, president and chief executive officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group, was arrested this week in his hometown of Baltimore and charged with a misdemeanor sex offense. Sinclair owns WPGH, the Fox affiliate in Pittsburgh, and programs most of WPTT.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Smith, 45, was arrested Tuesday night in an undercover sting at a downtown corner frequented by prostitutes.

On Thursday night, Sinclair issued a statement that Smith's arrest was unrelated to company business and ''The company will continue to operate under the direction of its current management.''

http://atrios.blogspot.com/

Good old Atrios. How does he find this stuff?

[wndycty]

1. Is Mr. Smith still with Sinclair

:kick:

[tom_paine]

2. Actually, he's doing better than most Puggies caught in sex scandals latly

At least he wasn't caught having sex with a child.

He's a paragon of Virtue next to the other 'Puggies, this one.

[displacedtexan]

3. Mr. Smith is STILL President and CEO! So much for Co. ethics! LOL!

Corporate

David D. Smith
President and Chief Executive Officer

Frederick G. Smith
Vice President

J. Duncan Smith
Vice President and Secretary

David B. Amy
Executive Vice President & CFO

Lucy A. Rutishauser
VP/Corporate Finance &
Treasurer

Barry M. Faber
VP/General Counsel


David R. Bochenek
Chief Accounting Officer &
Corporate Controller

Nat S. Ostroff
VP/New Technology

Donald H. Thompson
VP/Human Resources

Tom Waters
VP/Purchasing

http://www.sbgi.net/about/executives.shtml

[LTR]

8. Yep.

A letter to McCain from Mr. Smith:

http://www.sbgi.net/

BALTIMORE (April 30, 2004) - The following is a copy of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: SBGI) letter sent today to Senator McCain regarding the Company's decision not to air this evening's episode of "Nightline."

April 30, 2004

Senator John McCain
Chairman
United States Senate Commerce Committee
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator McCain:

I am writing to respond to your letter to me regarding Sinclair Broadcast Group's decision not to air this evening's episode of "Nightline."

Let me begin by saying that no organization more fully supports our military than Sinclair. In no way was our decision intended to show any disrespect to the brave members of our military, particularly those who have sacrificed their lives in service of our country. To the contrary, our decision was based on a desire to stop the misuse of their sacrifice to support an anti-war position with which most, if not all, of these soldiers would not have agreed.

Senator McCain, together with you, I also support the President's decision to go to war in Iraq. Moreover, while I don't disagree that Americans need to understand the costs of war and sacrifices of our military volunteers, I firmly believe that responsible journalism requires that a discussion of these costs must necessarily be accompanied by a description of the benefits of military action and the events that precipitated that action. To those who would accuse Sinclair of censorship, we ask that they consider the daily decisions of network shows like "Nightline" as to what issues to cover and how they are to be presented, decisions that necessarily involve ignoring other issues and points of view that the networks choose not to present to the American public.

Sinclair's news coverage during the last year has reported on all aspects of the war in Iraq, including the tragic loss of lives of military combatants. In fact, we will be replacing "Nightline" this evening with a balanced report addressing both sides of this controversy. It is worth noting that "Nightline" and its host, Ted Koppel, have ignored repeated requests from Sinclair to comment on their decision regarding the content of tonight's program.

It is "Nightline's" failure to present the entire story, however, to which Sinclair objects. "Nightline" is not reporting news; it is doing nothing more than making a political statement. In simply reading the names of our fallen heroes, this program has adopted a strategy employed by numerous anti-war demonstrators who wish to focus attention solely on the cost of war. In fact, lest there be any doubt about "Nightline's" motivation, both Mr. Koppel and "Nightline's" executive producer have acknowledged that tonight's episode was influenced by the Life Magazine article listing the names of dead soldiers in Vietnam, which article was widely credited with furthering the opposition to the Vietnam war and with creating a backlash of public opinion against the members of the U.S. military who had proudly served in that conflict


In closing, I would like to quote for you the words of Captain Kate Blaise of the U.S. Military. Captain Blaise served in Iraq as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and suffered the loss of her husband Mike who was killed while also serving in Iraq. In commenting on exactly the type of practice which "Nightline" intends to employ, Captain Blaise had this to say:

"I was watching the news, watching this anti-war demonstration and they were reading off names of soldiers who had fallen in Iraq and they read off my husband's name. That made me very angry because he very strongly believed in what he was doing and they were using his name for a purpose that he would not have approved of."


I hope that this letter has adequately addressed your concerns and explained why Sinclair has taken this action. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you in greater detail. In addition, if you are available, we would be delighted to provide you with a chance to be part of our program this evening discussing this issue.


Sincerely yours,


David D. Smith
Head Pervert, Sinclair Broadcasting

[ArkDem]

4. This explains everything.

.

[revcarol]

5. Post this at FR

so they can gloat over their moral leaders.

[Bluebear]

6. A real paragon of virtue, of course

It's the Republican way!

[SoCalDem]

7. Wonder if Sludge will make it his "Developing" story

:)..

Totally funny ..what hypocrites they are :)

[Bleacher Creature]

9. Why am I not surprised

Not only is he still in charge, but he's the primary spokesperson leading this crusade. Look at his letter on Sinclair's homepage to Senator McCain.

www.sbgi.net


And lest we forget, he's certainly not a disinterested party: http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?txtName=smith%2C+david+d.&NumOfThou=0&txt2004=Y&submit=Go%21

[blm]

10. HAHAHAHA. Atrios, me love you.

.

[xultar]

11. I emailed this to the affiliates who replied to my Sinclair Boycott

email.

Buhwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[OneTwentyoNine]

12. Oh my my.....I'll buMP this to the top---ROFLOL.....

[slaveplanet]

13. America's finest

-dying everywhere for republicans right to get cheap hookers and commit mass mind control....what else is new

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

14. I emailed them

and asked his investors if that was true Lol.

[maggrwaggr]

15. Republican values.

as usual

[Snellius]

16. Atrios strikes again:

...more

Broadcasting official charged in sex stakeout
Sinclair president, woman arrested in company car

Published on: August 15, 1996
Edition: FINAL
Section: NEWS
Page: 2B
Byline: SUN STAFFPeter Hermann

372

The president of Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which owns the local Fox television affiliate, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with committing a perverted sex act in a company-owned Mercedes, city police said.

David Deniston Smith, 45, of the 800 block of Hillstead Drive in Timonium, who also is Sinclair's chief executive, was arrested in an undercover sting at Read and St. Paul streets, a downtown corner frequented by prostitutes, Baltimore police said yesterday.

Smith and Mary DiPaulo, 31, were charged with committing unnatural and perverted sex act. Smith was held overnight at the Central Booking and Intake Center and released on personal recognizance at 2 p.m. yesterday. DiPaulo's bail status was not available.

Officials at WBFF-TV (Fox 45) and Sinclair, one of the fastest-growing broadcasting companies in the nation with 28 television and 34 radio stations, would not comment yesterday. The company had $126 million in sales in the first half of this year.

Police said undercover Officer Gary Bowman, on a prostitution detail, was talking to DiPaulo about 9: 15 p.m. in a car at St. Paul and Read streets. She left the undercover car after telling Bowman that ``she had just seen her regular date driving in the area,'' according to court documents.

Police said DiPaulo ran across the street to a 1992 Mercedes, registered to Sinclair, and got in on the passenger side. Police followed the car onto the Jones Falls Expressway, where they said they witnessed the two engage in oral sex while Smith drove north.

Police said they followed the car back to Read and St. Paul streets, where they arrested Smith and DiPaulo, who lives in the 700 block of Washington Blvd.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/

[KharmaTrain]

17. Mr. Smith's Been Quite The Talk Of Investors Circles Today.

I can't say right this minute, but I will when the paperwork clears, but several individuals who hold blocks of Sinclair common stock (and fairly sizeable ones) are looking to dump, that could create a fiscal crisis in the company, since this is money used as collatoral on the mortgages on stations they've purchased.

Check out sbci at yahoo business and on Monday and see where their stock price opens...this could be interesting.

According to the informal email going around, the move is being made primarily based on Sinclair's censorship of the news, it's destruction of local news departments and making such decissions without consulting the board of directors or the various intestment councils that oversee Sinclairs many loans and debts. Informally, several are upset at finding out how much money Smith has given to Repugnicans...or any political party for that matter.

Now that'd be fun to see the real financial plug pulled on this deck of cards of a company. Unlike Murdoch whose completed his heists and has too big an empire to break apart, Sinclair lives on borrowed and leveraged money...and can't afford to piss off too many investors...especially now when there aren't as many with $20 or $50k to tie up for 5 years.

[Logansquare]

18. Yahoo Finance, Ticker SBGI--More info on Sinclair's arrest

in the finance.yahoo.com message board. The prostitute was observed giving him oral sex while he drove down the freeway. Apparently he was one of her regular "dates." Republican family values!

[KharmaTrain]

19. This Could Be Fun...

A smug monkey about to get slapped around, and one that truely deserves it. Too bad it's not Loewry Mayes...CEO of Cheap Channel!

I laughed when I read he was pinched in a "company-owned car"...my bets are it was a Caddy or Mercedes...traded out for commercials on one of his stations and that he doesn't own his own car...or anything else for that matter. Most major broadcast owners came up as Sales Managers...one step ahead of selling snake oil (or five steps behind)....cheat, lie, steal, trade, borrow & never return...all the elements that make you into a good Repugnican Pioneer.

BTW...are you in the Logan Square area of Chicago???

[maggrwaggr]

22. wow, he has money for hookers AND George Bush!

What a successful man!

[maggrwaggr]

21. closed at 12.36, down .26, a drop of 2.06 percent

volume right on the average daily

[crissy71]

20. on a somewhat related note - Sunday nyc peace benefit

Pls pass on

NYC BENEFIT FOR PEACE ACTIVISTS FACING JAIL

WHAT: BENEFIT CONCERT

WHO: Queer feminist activist band from NYC "The Syndicate", Bands Against Bush power pop band "Gladshot", popular rockers "Marwood", Brooklyn’s own “Motico”, all-girl punk outfit "Pie", comedienne and activist Drae Campbell as MC and Special Guests TBA.

WHERE: Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, NYC Directions at www.knittingfactory.com

WHEN: Sunday, May 2nd, 2pm

HOW MUCH: $15

WHY? This is a benefit show for the 16 non-violent activists who were arrested during a protest on March 26, 2003. They were protesting Rachel Corrie’s death, violations of Palestinian human rights, and the war on Iraq. They were recently convicted, and in what is seen as an effort to punish activists in the lead up to the GOP convention in August, now face jail time at their May 12th sentencing. This is an important case for the activist community, and the defendants need our support.

You can also help by donating funds at: www.m26.org

[Lindacooks]

23. That figures

It all fits nicely into my worldview of Repukes, which is proven over and over and over and over again.

Repukes =

Slimy
Dishonest
Liars
Usually cheated on spouses
Lawbreakers
Mean
Cruel
Stupid
Selfish
Assholes