FAIR ACTION ALERT: Sinclair's Partisan Ploy Cries Out for Equal Time

[G_j]

FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
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http://www.fair.org/activism/sinclair-stolen-honor.html

ACTION ALERT:
Sinclair's Partisan Ploy Cries Out for Equal Time

October 12, 2004

In an unprecedented move, the Republican-friendly Sinclair Broadcasting
company has ordered its 62 television stations to preempt regular
prime-time broadcasting to air the anti-John Kerry documentary "Stolen
Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" just two weeks before the election. The
film is to be shown in several swing states, including Ohio, Florida and
Pennsylvania.

"Stolen Honor"-- much like the discredited Swift Boat Veterans ads--
offers unsubstantiated claims by alleged Vietnam POWs that their
Vietnamese captors used Kerry's anti-war statements against them. In fact,
the organization that paid for "Stolen Honor"-- called POWs for Truth--
recently merged with the Swift Boat Vets, forming a combined group called
Swift Vets and POWS for Truth (Talking Points Memo, 10/11/04).

The film was made by Carlton Sherwood, a consultant to the Bush
administration's Department of Homeland Security and a personal friend of
the department's head, Tom Ridge. A former reporter for Rev. Sun Myung
Moon's Washington Times, Sherwood also wrote a book about Moon,
Inquisition, that the self-proclaimed messiah was allowed to see before
publication. After reviewing the book and giving Sherwood a list of
changes, Moon aide James Gavin wrote to Moon: "In addition to silencing
our critics now, the book should be invaluable in persuading others of our
legitimacy for many years to come." Moon reportedly ordered 100,000
advance copies of the book from the publisher, a subsidiary of the
conservative imprint Regnery (Frontline, 1/21/92).

Sinclair's ties to the right are no less strong. According to the Los
Angeles Times (10/9/04), in the 2004 political cycle, 97 percent of
contributions made by Sinclair executives went to Republicans. Sinclair
has a record of allowing its conservative agenda to influence its
programming decisions. For instance, in April, Sinclair ordered seven of
its ABC-affiliated stations not to air an episode of Nightline that
featured the names of American soldiers killed in Iraq, saying, "We do not
believe such political statements should be disguised as news content."

However, soon after the September 11 attacks, Sinclair stations were
required to air editorial statements in support of the Bush administration
(Extra!, 11-12/01). And most Sinclair stations are also required to air
commentaries from the company's vice president, Mark E. Hyman, during
their newscasts. Hyman's conservative commentaries routinely include harsh
attacks on Kerry, who Hyman accuses of "a lifetime of supporting Communist
forces opposed to the U.S." (The Point, 9/22/04).

Questions have been raised about whether the extraordinary decision to
force stations to carry the film violates FCC requirements that broadcasts
provide equal time for electoral candidates. The rule does not apply to
coverage of legitimate news stories, and Hyman appeared on CNN (10/12/04)
to claim that "Stolen Honor" fell in this category:

"This is news. I can't change the fact that these people decided to come
forward today. The networks had this opportunity over a month ago to speak
with these people. They chose to suppress them. They chose to ignore them.
They are acting like Holocaust deniers, pretending these men don't exist."

Hyman's bizarre analogy aside, Sinclair's obvious attempt to affect the
election by broadcasting the film is exactly the sort of use of public
airwaves to promote station owners' private political agendas that federal
regulations have always been designed to prevent. "American thought and
American politics will be largely at the mercy of those who operate these
stations," Rep. Luther Johnson warned at the time of the passage of the
Radio Act of 1927.

With growing numbers of stations controlled by chains like Sinclair--
which controls more television licenses than any other operator-- these
concerns are more relevant than ever. As former FCC chairman Reed Hundt
wrote to Sinclair (Talking Points Memo, 10/11/04):

"How can it be part of a broadcaster's public interest obligation to
aspire to alter the perceptions of the audience about a presidential
candidate by showing biased content that in no way reflects either
breaking news or even-handed treatment of the issues? Why should a
broadcaster keep its licenses if it behaves in this manner?"

If Sinclair wants to give more exposure to "Stolen Honor," it can do so
fairly by providing equal time for an examination of the same subject from
an opposing perspective. The documentary "Going Upriver: The Long War of
John Kerry," a positive account of Kerry's service in Vietnam and his
anti-war activism upon his return, would seem to be an ideal candidate.
The Chicago Tribune (10/1/04) called it "almost essential viewing... that
anyone who intends to vote this November should make every effort to see."


ACTION: Please call Sinclair Broadcasting and tell them that if it airs a
partisan documentary attacking a presidential candidate just before the
election, then it should give equal time to a documentary from an opposing
perspective, like "Going Upriver."

CONTACT:
Sinclair Broadcasting
Phone: [phone]
mailto:[e-mail]

As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc [e-mail] with your
correspondence.

For more information about activist campaigns regarding Sinclair, see:
http://www.sinclairwatch.org

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[movonne]

1. I don't want equal time...I DON'T IT SHOWN AT ALL!!!!!

[NYC Liberal]

4. Me too!

"News" isn't just reporting what both sides say; it's reporting the FACTS.

[G_j]

2. kick

[troublemaker]

3. At this point Equal Time is a sucker's play