Sinclair Broadcast Group-Orwell Was Right

[DenverDem]

A great report on SBG by The Nation's John Nichols

<http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=1912>

"Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind." -- George Orwell


George Orwell shaped our imagination of a future in which a propagandistic media produced a steady stream of up-is-down, right-is-wrong, war-is-peace lies in order to impose the will of a governing elite upon the subject citizenry.


Orwell reckoned this ultimate diminution of democracy would come in the year 1984. Imperfect genius that he was, the author missed the mark by twenty years. But, after watching the controversy regarding the Sinclair Broadcast Group's scheme to air the truth-impaired mockumentary Stolen Honor in an attempt to stall the momentum John Kerry's campaign gained from the presidential debates, it becomes evident that the future Orwell imagined is unfolding.
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[Anarcho-Socialist]

1. Orwell wasn't predicting something specific that would happen in 1984

He was talking about 1948 and just switched 4 and 8 around. He was expressing fears at the time of a potential police state and authoritarianism.

Besides from that; great article.

[DenverDem]

2. Orwell was right-1984=raygun

The beginning of wrong wing media control.

[pretzel4gore]

3. 1983- the KAL 007 shootdown

totally forgotten today, the KAL 007 shootdown was the precursor of 911, made an event like 911 inevitable. Looked at from a distance, the 'wondering 300 miles off course over several hours into the most deadly airspace on earth' by a modern fully equipped jetliner on a routine flight is as preposterous as the official 911 story (and proof of that is the fact 20th anniversary of the shootdown happened last fall w/out any mention by the old mediawhore....hahaha. seymore hersh, btw, squandered his good name and exposed himself as a cia agent by his hurriedly published book which said the reaganites just 'provoked' the soviets etc into killing almost 300 people and going along with the nonsense a modern airliner is out of touch wih A/C for hours and hours....
but it better to just forget KAL 007 (when nuclear forcess were put on red alert for 1st time since cuba crisis) forgetting's easy.

[lawnerd]

4. Boycott may be starting to work...

Burger King Bars Ads from TV Show Discussing Kerry

Wed Oct 20, 8:55 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hamburger chain Burger King said on Wednesday that it would not run its commercials during a controversial program about U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) to be aired by Sinclair Broadcast Group .

Sinclair on Tuesday backed away from airing a documentary critical of Kerry's Vietnam War-era record, but said it would show portions of that film in a special program that discusses allegations he betrayed fellow veterans with his antiwar activities.

Burger King's move suggests advertisers may not be assured the new program's format averts political controversy. Democrats have branded plans to air the program as a blatant partisan attack less than two weeks before the Nov. 2 ballot.

Sinclair broadcasts in key states like Florida and Ohio whose voters could decide the close election race. Some of the company's top executives have been major contributors to President Bush (news - web sites) and his fellow Republicans.

Burger King said in a statement that it "does not endorse any candidate or political party."

In response to the controversy, Sinclair said on Tuesday it would not air the entire documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," which accuses Kerry, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, of betraying fellow Vietnam veterans by testifying more than 30 years ago against the war and about atrocities he said were committed by U.S. forces.

Baltimore-based Sinclair said it would instead broadcast an hour-long program on Friday titled "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media" about the use of documentaries to influence voting that would include a discussion of Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activity.

A Sinclair official said the company respected Burger King's decision. He could not say whether other advertisers had pulled their commercials from the program.

Sinclair shares fell nearly 17 percent after the controversy began earlier this month, with investors concerned about a potential advertising boycott or legal threat.

After Sinclair clarified its broadcast plans, the stock rose 12.6 percent on Wednesday to close at $7.05 on the Nasdaq.

Burger King recently launched a nonpartisan Internet campaign under its brand slogan "Have It Your Way," encouraging young voters to head to the polls.

Privately held Burger King said its decision affects one day of advertising in nine local markets where it had scheduled commercial time.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1963&e=37&u=/nm/20041021/us_nm/media_sinclair_advertiser_dc

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. What do you think really happened then?

[imenja]

6. General Mills refuses to withdraw ads from Sinclair

This is the response I got from General Mills regarding my letter protesting their advertising on Sinclair. I say we stop buying General Mills products. Also, does anyone know if GMills is one of the advertisers who withdrew from "Desperate Housewives."



Thank you for contacting General Mills.

Many consumers have written to share their views on this issue. Some have urged General Mills to use its influence as an advertiser to ensure that the media reports the news in an unbiased manner. Some have urged General Mills to continue advertising, and have threatened to withdraw support for our products if we alter our advertising plans. Passions run deep on both sides, particularly this close to an election.

Whenever possible, General Mills does strive to preview the programs on which our advertising appears. We do so to assure that we do not advertise on programs inconsistent with the family-oriented nature of our products. This works well with entertainment programs produced and available for advance screening, but pre-screening of news broadcasts is usually not possible.

Our view in this area is clear. We believe one of the fundamental elements of our society is the freedom of the press. Companies such as ours, in our view, should not attempt to influence, control or pre-empt the content of news through the leverage of advertising sponsorship. To do so would undermine that fundamental freedom.

From time to time, any one of us as viewers may consider a particular news story to be inaccurate or imbalanced. News organizations do err. Judgment is not always well applied. One major news organization recently acknowledged that errors were made in stories relating to the current presidential election. When such errors occur, certainly a price is paid in terms of reputation. But errors and questionable judgment are an acceptable price to pay, in our view, to assure the presence of a free and independent media in our society.

As viewers, each of us is free to make a choice. We can choose to patronize or not patronize programs with our viewership. We can choose to patronize or not patronize particular television stations, or even entire networks.

Similarly, advertisers may choose not to sponsor certain broadcasts, a particular network or specific publications because of their journalistic standards and judgment. But advertisers should not attempt to control or pre-empt news programming prior to broadcast or publication. That, in our view, would be inappropriate.

In this instance, as in the example cited earlier, passionate voices are calling on advertisers to insert themselves into the election by threatening to boycott those who remove or who do not remove their advertising.

We choose to stand with freedom of the press.

We welcome the views that you and others have shared with us. You may rest assured that we will remind the networks we sponsor that the integrity of their reporting reflects on the companies that advertise during their broadcasts.

Hopefully, you will understand our views – and the importance we place on a free press.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us and share your views.

Sincerely,



General Mills