NYTimes editorial covers 60 minutes Siegelman 'blackout'

[kpete]

Editorial
WHNT’s Technical Glitches

Published: February 27, 2008

In 1955, when WLBT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Jackson, Miss., did not want to run a network report about racial desegregation, it famously hung up the sign: “Sorry, Cable Trouble.” Audiences in northern Alabama might have suspected the same tactics when WHNT-TV, the CBS affiliate, went dark Sunday evening during a “60 minutes” segment that strongly suggested that Don Siegelman, Alabama’s former Democratic governor, was wrongly convicted of corruption last year.

The report presented new evidence that the charges against Mr. Siegelman may have been concocted by politically motivated Republican prosecutors — and orchestrated by Karl Rove. Unfortunately, WHNT had “technical problems” that prevented it from broadcasting a segment (the problems were resolved in time for the next part of the show) that many residents of Alabama would no doubt have found quite interesting.

After initially blaming the glitch on CBS in New York, the affiliate said it learned “upon investigation,” and following a rebuke from the network, that “the problem was on our end.” It re-broadcast the segment at 10 p.m., pitting it against the Academy Awards on rival ABC, before Daniel Day-Lewis won the best actor Oscar. As public criticism grew, it ran it again at 6 p.m. on Monday.

..........

WHNT is owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners, a private equity firm whose lead investor is one of the Bass brothers of Texas. The brothers are former business partners of George W. Bush and generous contributors to Republican causes.

more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/opinion/27wed4.html

[Bozita]

1. Remember Harken Energy? ... Guess who owns the station.

Here's some background on the Bass brothers:

http://www.jonesreport.com/article/12_07/271207_media_c ...

Bush associates still consolidating their hold on US media

Diane Sweet / Raw Story | December 27, 2007

Longtime associates of President George W. Bush are consolidating their hold on American media with a string of recent purchases, RAW STORY can report.

Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. announced of late the sale of 8 of its US television stations to a private equity firm -- Oak Hill Partners -- for an estimated $1.1 billion dollars that is expected to close sometime in 2008.

The deal leaves Murdoch with another 27 television stations in major US cities such as Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles, as well as The New York Post, a controlling interest in BSkyB, movie studio 20th Century Fox, and Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co Inc.

Oak Hill Partners lead investor Robert M. Bass, a longtime associate of George W. Bush, is also the founder of Ft. Worth, Texas-based Bass Brothers Enterprises. Oak Hill issued a statement announcing the stations would be jointly managed by a broadcast holding company, Local TV, that was created by Oak Hill for the purpose of purchasing 9 other television stations from The New York Times previously this year.

more...

[xxqqqzme]

2. Mike Malloy delivered quite a history lesson

on the bass brothers Monday night. No doubt in my mind what the 'technical difficulties' were.

[zbdent]

3. wait a minute ... the New York Times doing a story about RW suppression of a

story exposing something on Republicans ... within the same year? WOW ... MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!!

[riderinthestorm]

4. K & R. Don Siegelman deserves this coverage. Finally.

I hope every American hears of this story sooner or later. A collective shudder needs to happen as goosebumps appear on our arms at the fact that America is finally beginning to imprison political "enemies" for no good cause.

That the NY Times is printing an editorial is one step of many that needs to happen, both to publicize what is happening AND to free Don Siegelman.