John Kerry Should Accept Sinclair Broadcasting's Offer

[Jon8503]

Not sure I agree Future President Kerry should go on, sense could be some sort of a trap if he does and the offer is only a have to to skirt the rules:

"A final confrontation with the Right. Isn't that what the Right wants too? A chance, indeed, to clear the air about Vietnam, and a lot of other things. Will America watch? America will watch. And if he can't win that broadcast, he does not deserve to win the prize."
You have heard the news by now, from Elizabeth Jensen of the Los Angeles Times:

The conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose television outlets reach nearly a quarter of the nation's homes with TV, is ordering its stations to preempt regular programming just days before the Nov. 2 election to air a film that attacks Sen. John F. Kerry's activism against the Vietnam War, network and station executives familiar with the plan said Friday.
You can read about the film, made by a Vietnam Veteran and former reporter for the Washington Times. Jensen calls the plan "highly unusual," and says it was "communicated to executives in recent days." (Warning: No one from Sinclair is on the record about it yet, and Jensen's story uses only unnamed sources. Also, I am quoted in the story, so watch out.) The plot turns with this bit:

The airing of "Stolen Honor" will be followed by a panel discussion, which Kerry will be asked to join, thus potentially satisfying fairness regulations, the sources said.
This part is crucial:

...although broadcast stations are required to provide equal time to major candidates in an election campaign, the Sinclair move may not run afoul of those provisions if Kerry or a representative is offered time to respond. Moreover, several sources said Sinclair had told them it planned to classify the program as news, where the rules don't apply.

http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2004/10/09/kerry_deal.html

[Florida_Geek]

1. Kerry should hand them "Going UpRiver" and say

play it in "fairness"...

[Mr_Spock]

3. Sounds reasonable - never saw it but reviews here were good.

Fuck showing up to be sideswiped by a right-wing group of thugs. We WILL put Sinclair out of business if they pull this stunt - no question in my mind.

[msongs]

10. exactly the right response and

that is equivalent. Your video vs my video. no way should kerry appear unless he is given an hour BY HIMSELF talking directly into the camera with NO other person participating.

Msongs
Riverside CA

[K8-EEE]

15. Absolutely -- Why Does He Have To Show Up On Defense/

FUCK THAT! They can play both of them

[RhodaGrits]

28. Absolutely - back to back dueling videos. Let the voters decide.

[Cocoa]

2. John McCain should join Kerry's response

I'd love to see McCain appearing with Kerry after this film is shown, with equal time to denounce it together.

[acmavm]

5. Fat chance on that one. McCain won't do it, although it would be the

decent thing to do. He knows any future run for the White House depends on the support of the republican party big shots and he'll lose that if he takes the moral high-road and defends Kerry.

[blondeatlast]

23. It's a tighter race than you would imagine for his Senate seat this year.

Send your spells, karma, prayers, what have yous to Stuart Starky to help defeat McCain.

It CAN happen, but it's an uphill climb.

If he loses this year, bye-bye White House!

[booksenkatz]

4. How sad that Kerry should have to give these assholes

5 minutes of his precious time. Time wasted on this crap is time NOT spent doing more important tasks.

[merh]

6. Kerry needs to get Wes Clark and other vets to respond

and focus on the fact that * never served.

[ikojo]

11. The thing is that the pugs and their bushbots BELIEVE that

* being in the TANG is the SAME as what Kerry did in Viet Nam. To them he DID serve his country, only he defended his beers and lines of coke against other drunks and druggies.

[blondeatlast]

24. This is definitely surrogate territory.

Excellent idea.

[Warpy]

7. He needs to respond with a team of rabid lawyers.

He needs to sue those smear boat liars for libel and he needs to get an injunction against Sinclair pending his viewing of that film. Once he's seen the sucker, if it's repeating the lies in the smear boat book, he can sue for slander.

I'm telling you, Kerry absolutely has got to sue. Letting these bastards get away with it is a tacit admission that what they've said is true.

And we know every scrap of paper from those days is on his side.

[demokatgurrl]

8. Kerry shouldn't grace them with his presence-

but send an attack dog surrogate. Carville? Howard Dean? One of the REAL swift boat vets?

[blondeatlast]

26. Carville, Dean, and Wes Clark.

Slam dunk.

[KharmaTrain]

9. Take The Airtime And Still Mobilize

First...let's keep up the pressure folks...looks like they're squirming a bit and we need to continue to play it smart through not overplaying this.

I'd take any and all time they give...as long as it's on ALL Chain's stations...this may include stations that still haven't been able to clear the Slimeboat propaganda. I trust the Kerry campaign to play this well...either with the showing of the Kerry film they've produced or using that time for a more direct approach.

However, I'm still calling for action, and using this opportunity for us to organize and use the many great resources we've been developing to investigate this company and create some serious activism that will prevent Sinclairs and others from abusing their publicly issued broadcast licenses and turn the clock back to the times where broadcasting was more locally owned and diverse.

Also, I'd still say the Slimeboat showings would be a great time to do our own little calling card at Sinclair and for other media outlets to take note of. While they're airing this Rovian hit piece, we all gather in front of Sinclair stations nationwide and show 'em, and ourselves, the real vox populi...and we're not happy.

[meganmonkey]

13. A list of Sinclair advertisers?

I agree, Radioactive. I'd like to see what the word is when Sinclair makes an official statement about this, as opposed to unnamed sources. But I think using the airtime (ideally with the Kerry film) is probably a good idea, although if it's just Kerry talking to a camera I doubt very many Bush supporters would watch.
But the important thing is to put pressure on Sinclair about this, and the best way to do this is through their advertisers. If they get deluged with complaints from consumers it may force them to change their plan. The RNC couldn't pay for all the airtime, could they? Or RW 527s? Any one know the rules on this?
And most importantly, anyone know who their advertisers are?

[KharmaTrain]

14. Advertising Takes Time

And there's several levels of advertisers...local ones and national ones. I've long advocated setting up an area on DU to discuss advertising and create a strategy to combat the blatant hijacking of the public airwaves by the right wing and fundies.

It would ideal to have a forum where the many issues and options we have can be explained, discussed and explored. Not just list of advertisers, but how the whole advertising food chain works and the weak points where we can put pressure. Or how to find ways of challenging their licenses that can lead to fines or revocation if they've abused the public airwaves.

This is a vast topic that first needs a central place where it can be discussed, to draw all of us here who want to work to enact change and then to come up with realistic and achivevable means of enacting changes in the media.

Bitching and posting indignation on a message board sufficed for a while, but now we truly see how far behind in getting a fair hearing for not only our political candidates but many of our core values.

[meganmonkey]

16. You're right - it's a huge issue

It would be nice to find a DUer that is part of this advertising chain and understands how it works. And an attorney who knows the legal side of it. But I really think that on a big enough scale a boycott can work. Political power is an ideal we reach for, but we do have power in where we spend our dollars. That may be all the power we have.
I have mixed feelings about MoveOn, but I think this is the kind of thing that they could run with if they considered it a priority. They are amazing at getting the word out on stuff...

[KharmaTrain]

22. You're Following Where I'm Going

Thank you for your posts. These are some of the areas that need to be both explored and studied. It would dispell a lot misunderstandings and help us in marshalling the many forces that pass through a DU to enact positive change.

MoveOn is just one portion of this quotient, too. I doubt Wes Boyd started that site ever dreaming it would grow into what it has today, and he's done an incredible job, but it's too big for MoveOn to handle on it's own. They operate an an excellent political arm, but not outside of that realm...we need to be far more comprehensive and establish a 24/7, 365 presence...or at least a percieved one.

Surely, once we have our shit together, boycotts and other actions are possible and can be a lot more effective as it can be coordinated with a PR and other information campaigns to get the messages heard. It can't be strident either...it has to be information that is consumed rather than lectured. Again, maybe this is just a dream...LOL.

[meganmonkey]

27. Thank you, radioactive

I'm pretty new to this discussion board thing (I'm starting to understand some of my friend's obsessions with online RPGs now!) and while I partly like it because it's a place to bitch and moan with like-minded people, I like knowing that there is an underlying momentum, a lot of people who actually are motivated to get stuff done. I have the same dream...it has to start somewhere!
:toast:

[G_j]

18. Our local Sinclair station has Walmart as a major advertiser

unfortunately most sane people I know are already boycotting them. :-(

[meganmonkey]

21. Walmart is the Devil in the form of a superstore

They're boycotting but are they sending emails and letters? Wal mart is so huge they don't notice the few people who never go there, but if they thought their customers were going to stop going there, it may matter. I guess they're such a behemoth (sp?) it wouldn't make much of a difference. But there are a lot of other advertisers, right? (I have no TV). Who are they? Let's find out, get a list of addresses and phone numbers and slam them!

[mitchum]

12. KErry should call out Mark Hyman for the goddamn CIA spook that he is...

I wouldn't mind someone doing a little wetwork on that smarmy cocksucker

[G_j]

17. that offer is BS

Mark Hyman has been spewing hate and smearing Kerry on a regular basis. Where is the equal time there? There has been none. Kerry should not take up this BS offer. All stations owned by Sinclair should have their licenses yanked. Forget "Stolen Honor" how about Sinclair's past behavior?
We need to declare all out war on Sinclair broadcasting.

[Dr Fate]

29. Kerry does not deal with pimps.

n/t

[mzmolly]

19. Kerry should send BOB KERREY!

He'd be a hell of an advocate.

Me thinks it's time to blast the prostitution story to the media?

[maxsolomon]

20. doesn't the FCC & FEC have any say in this?

they are PUBLIC airwaves that sinclair leases.

releasing a film into theatres is one thing, broadcast TV is different. i don't know exactly why.

[meganmonkey]

25. Can anyone summarize the rules on this?

What are the rules on partisan use of airwaves at election time, exactly?
I know there is the equal time thing, but what are the details?
In theory could a PAC or 527 pay for the time?

[Catt03]

30. I would be disappointed if Kerry wnet to this hate fest

These people are beyond rational. They are polarized in their thinking, their morals and their actions. Nothing Kerry says or would say will change anything nor will it be a positive result if he appears.

This is the most abusive use of the public commuications that I have ever seen. It has to be stopped, not tolerated and neutralized by appearances.

It has to be stopped.