Local NON Sinclair Advertiser, BOULDERS,

[Lefta Dissenter]

MADISON WI DU'ers, please read the response from Boulders, one of the companies listed as a Fox47 advertiser. PLEASE DO NOT BOYCOTT! and NO MORE CALLS AND LETTERS!!!

edited again to ask, How are we supposed to take companies OFF the list if they pull their ads or aren't currently supporting Sinclair?

(at least this guy was nice, unlike my OTHER response this morning)

Thank you for your email and for expressing your concern with Boulders supporting the Sinclair Media Group and the biased political material that they plan to air on WMSN/Fox 47.

From what I gather, a connection between the Sinclair Media Group and Boulders was found on the website of Fox 47, where there is a picture of a film crew shooting a commercial at Boulders. It seems that this picture has prompted hundreds of emails and phone calls to Boulders asking us to no longer advertise with Fox 47.

While I appreciate people expressing their concern with the Sinclair Media Group, what alarms me is that the majority of emails and phone calls received state that they will boycott Boulders and encourage others to do the same.

Last year, Boulders had Fox 47 produce a TV commercial in exchange for some advertising on Fox 47 this past January, February, and March. Since then, Boulders has NOT advertised with the Sinclair Media Group NOR are there any current or future plans to.

In ABSOLUTELY NO WAY was the decision to advertise with the Sinclair Media Group this past winter based on their plan to air controversial, biased, political propaganda this fall.

While I support political awareness in forms of active protests and boycotts, what really concerns me is that Boulders is probably one of many innocent businesses that are wrongfully being targeted because of past affiliations with the Sinclair Media Group.

Although I am sending you a response now clarifying Boulders past and current relationship with the Sinclair Media Group, I fear that the damage has already been done. Please be aware that boycotting a small business may cause irreversible changes and may be detrimental to its existence.

Starting with its inception and continuing today, Boulders has strived to support and be a part of a healthy community by donating hundreds of free passes to countless church, school, and other non-profit fund raisers, focused our advertising and purchasing dollars on local businesses, and created a fun place for the community to recreate at by providing unforgettable birthday parties for children, exciting field trips for school and church groups, and a friendly place to climb for people of all walks of life.

Once again, I appreciate you voicing your concern with the Sinclair Media Group and assure you that Boulders currently has no advertising with them, nor, when we did, was this to show support for the anti-Kerry propaganda that will be aired on Fox 47.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Sincerely,

Sean Geib
General Manager

edited to add my response to him

Sean,

Thank you so much for your response. I have forwarded it on to our groups. I am delighted that you don't advertise with Sinclair, and I assume you've asked them to take your name off of their website, as that clearly is where the connection was made. The proposed boycott is going to target businesses that continue to advertise with Sinclair, after being informed of the dirty tactics that the company is using. Obviously, companies that make (or have made) the decision NOT to continue to support Sinclair would be recognized as standing up for our democracy, and will be wholeheartedly supported. I will be sure to notify as many people as possible that you are not associated with Sinclair.

Again, thank you so much for your helpful response, and if I ever find some arm muscles, I'll come try to climb a wall!