Remember this next time you hear about the "biased liberal media".Sinclair Broadcasting Group, who told 7 of their 62 television stations not to air Ted Koppel's Nightline broadcast featuring a roll call of the 700 U.S. troops who had died in Iraq back in April, has told all of their stations to air
Stolen Honor -
an anti-Kerry "documentary".
Station and network sources said they have been told the Sinclair stations — which include affiliates of Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, as well as WB and UPN — will be preempting regular programming for one hour between Oct. 21 and Oct. 24, depending on the city. 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. [Conservative TV Group to Air Anti-Kerry Film - L.A. Times - 10-09-04]
More information:
Yesterday former
FCC Chairman Reed Hundt sent the following message to executives at Sinclair Broadcasting Group:
Dear sirs:
I'm told you were involved in a decision to order Sinclair stations to carry anti-Kerry propaganda. If my information is false, please forgive this intrusion. While I do not believe you should be required to carry pro-Kerry content, except of course for an even-handed sale of your advertising time to both campaigns, I do wish to register my objection and concern if in fact you have obliged your stations to carry anti-Kerry propaganda.
I assure you that if you were carrying anti-Bush propaganda I would be equally concerned.
The problem is this: How can it be part of a broadcaster's public interest obligation to aspire to alter the perceptions of the audience about a presidential candidate by showing biased content that in no way reflects either breaking news or even-handed treatment of the issues? Why should a broadcaster keep its licenses if it behaves in this manner? I hope you will reconsider your edict—unless, of course, I am misinformed, in which case I do hope you forgive this message.
— Reed Hundt
According to OpenSecrets.org, in the 2004 political cycle executives from Sinclair have given nearly $67,784 in political contributions, 97% to Republicans.
I've seen suggestions that they should show Michael Moore's
Fahrenheit 9/11 on public networks to counter this attack on John Kerry. I know several conservatives said they didn't want to see it because they didn't want to "give Michael Moore their money". I honestly think they didn't want to because they don't want to even
consider that their godly president is deceiving them. They'd have no excuse if it were aired free on cable news networks. It has a lot more factual information in it than the anti-Kerry movie. They just throw around commentary about how he sucks and even their main point makes no sense: that John Kerry's anti-war stance during Vietnam caused it to last longer.
The right-wing propoganda machine makes me so upset. True conservatives have been taken hostage since Nixon was in office. The corruption stuck. It's too bad Republicans aren't the same thing they were in the time of Abraham Lincoln. Then again, back then the Republicans were liberal and the Democrats were conservative.
I'm starting to think that they're switching back. It depends on how you look at it the word 'conservative': spending record amounts of money, going to war with whoever is conventient, and trying to write religion into our country's law books ... or defending the freedoms and liberties our countries were founded on.
PS:
I want this for Christmas. Seriously. ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
