THE two attacks to make against General Mills on Sinclair

[gcomeau]

They're defending running advertising on Sinclair as a defense of "freedom of the press". We need e-mails to them to start flying with these two points.

1. Where the hell was their defense of "freedom of the press" when Sinclair forbid it's stations from showing the nightline special honoring fallen soldiers in Iraq for fear it would have a negative political impact on Bush?

2. Their position has nothing to do with freedom of the press. Hit them with Lieberman's comments here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/19/politics/main650166.shtml

"They're using news to drive their political agenda," says Leiberman. "I don't think it served the public trust."

In the interview published Monday, Leiberman, 29, called the planned Sinclair program "biased political propaganda, with clear intentions to sway the election."

"I really feel like I can sleep at night and I can be OK with my decision" to criticize Sinclair publicly," added Leiberman. "I know I stood up for the principles of objectivity. In journalism, all we have is credibility and objectivity."

That's SINCLAIR'S own Washington Bureau Cheif, right before they fired him for exposing their tactics. Giving Sinclair advertising dollars is ASSAULTING freedom of the press. This program is being FORCED on their affiliate stations as a CORPORATE and POLITICAL... NOT a JOURNALISTIC decision.

Get writing guys. I've already sent mine. Make it clear you aren't buying their excuse for a second and that their decision will have revenue and pr repercussions.

EDIT: Contact info:

General Mills
general comments: 1-800-248-7310
Corp Head: 763 764-7600
612-540-7092 ?? (came off of boycott sinclair webpage)

http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/contact_us/contac...
(website has an online contact form also)

[e-mail]
[e-mail]


-Grant

[blm]

1. I say tell them that Moonie propaganda is NOT welcome on public airwaves

and if THEY do then they endorse Moon's agenda.

[gcomeau]

2. The two points I listed are harder to argue with.

If you just accuse the program of being "Moonie propaganda" they'll just come back with "other people dissagree" and blow you off.

-Grant

[blm]

6. Of course, but I spread the word about Moon whenever his ugly presence and

agenda pops up.

[cheshire]

3. I live in a GM town and plan to protest, It's a huge storm today but I

hope to get out soon.

[troubleinwinter]

4. About an hour ago, I got letters from Pepsi & GM

I responded that their responses were hollow and with basically freedom of press vs. propaganda. I also said my family's boycott is in effect until they support democracy.

[gcomeau]

5. Did Pepsi pull the "freedom of the press" garbage too?

Or was their response something else?

-Grant

[troubleinwinter]

7. They just side-stepped the whole thing.

Hello!
Thank you for taking the time to contact us at PepsiCo. Accurate and
balanced journalism is important to us, and we appreciate your thoughts
regarding Sinclair Broadcasting Group's upcoming plans.
We have no national advertising buys scheduled with Sinclair
Broadcasting, nor do we plan to advertise on the program in question.
We will also make our bottlers aware of this situation and share these
concerns so they can take them into consideration as they plan their
local marketing efforts. We will follow the resolution of this issue
closely.
Given your concerns, we also would suggest that you communicate your
views directly to Sinclair Broadcasting Group's President and Chief
Executive Officer, David D. Smith. He can be contacted at Sinclair
Broadcasting Group, 10706 Beaver Dam Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21030, or
via email at [e-mail]
Again, many thanks for bringing this to our attention. We value your
comments, and equally, the constructive spirit in which they are
offered.

-Pepsi-Cola Company

[Mortos]

8. Here is my response posted on their comments section

Since you have chosen to endorse Sinclair's airing of the Anti-Kerry commercial in the guise of supporting a free press, I must inform you of my choice not to purchase any of your products, ever again.

As a husband and father of two I can honestly say my family uses and enjoys many of your products; my daughter loves Go-Gurt and my wife eats cereal several times a week (her favorite is still Lucky Charms) but as of today, we will have to find alternate sources for those food items. There are many companies to chose from and we will do whatever it takes to avoid General Mills products from now on.

Too bad you chose a partisan broadcasting company over your loyal consumers.

Sincerely,

Steven J. Vincent

[tsuki]

9. How about

they're using the freedom of speech controversy to diddle their shareholders out of millions.