NYT: Feinstein sends letter to FCC re Sinclair Group Showing Anti-JK film

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/11/politics/campaign/11film.html?oref=login

TV Group to Show Anti- Kerry Film on 62 Stations
By JIM RUTENBERG

Up to 62 television stations owned or managed by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group - many of them in swing states - will show a documentary highly critical of Senator John Kerry's antiwar activities 30 years ago within the next two weeks, Sinclair officials said yesterday.

Those officials said the documentary would pre-empt regular night programming, including prime time, on its stations, which include affiliates for all six of the major broadcast networks in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

<>Mr. Clanton said Mr. Kerry's campaign would call on supporters to stage advertiser boycotts and demonstrations against Sinclair's stations.

A group of Democratic senators, including Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California, readied a letter calling for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the move, arguing that the documentary was not news but a prolonged political advertisement from Mr. Bush and, as such, violated fairness rules.
______________________

MSNBC is now reporting this story...

[Bluzmann57]

1. Hopefully since MSNBC is on it

and CNN was on it yesterday, the public will be angry enough to demand that the film not be shown. Or at least demand that the FCC conduct a fair investigation of this matter. We here at DU need to flood the FCC and the Sinclair group, as well as their competitors. Not to mention the advertisers.

[Mika]

3. Yeah right. Powell will get right on it.

:puke:

[Warpy]

2. This has to be followed up by the public in all Sinclair's markets

with formal protests to the FCC. Airing a 42 minute hack job on a presidential candidate which may fit the standard of slander just before an election is not responsible use of the public airwaves.

Threaten these bastards with the loss of their broadcast licenses.

Letters to the networks from various markets might also have an effect.

We probably can't stop them from airing slander. We can get their licenses pulled so that they're left with broadcast facilities and no way to broadcast.

We own the airwaves. Let's make that fact perfectly clear to Sinclair.