Posted on 10/11/2004 11:01:59 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
The chutzpah of CBS and ABC. On Sunday night, both decried how the Sinclair Broadcast Group has told its owned and operated televisions stations to run an anti-Kerry documentary, Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal. On the CBS Evening News, reporter Kelly Cobiella noted how "Sinclair has given the lion's share of its political contributions to Republican candidates. This year, the company's CEO wrote out the largest personal check allowed by law to President Bush's re-election campaign." ABC anchor Terry Moran stressed how "Democrats decry this move as a political smear and yellow journalism" before Geoff Morrell relayed how "Sinclair's owners have donated $58,000 to re-elect President Bush."
The stories failed to inform viewers how ABC and CBS have given free air time to the anti-Bush screed from Michael Moore, Fahrenheit 911, or how the corporate chieftains at both networks are Democrats and/or large donors to Democrats, including the Kerry presidential campaign. To say nothing of CBS using forged documents for a prime time hit piece aimed at destroying President Bush's credibility.
On June 27, before a re-run of a laudatory profile of Michael Moore, CBS's 60 Minutes promoted Fahrenheit 9/11 by airing a nearly minute-long excerpt of one of its most disparaging sequences about President Bush, showing him sitting in the classroom for seven minutes on September 11, 2001.
A few days earlier, ABC's Good Morning America spent about seven minutes showcasing Fahrenheit 9/11's highlights of how after President Bush was informed a second plane had hit the World Trade Center, he stayed in front of elementary school kids for another seven minutes. "Was valuable time wasted?" asked Charlie Gibson at the top of the June 22 show. Diane Sawyer imparted great meaning to the time passage: "It was seven minutes in the life of a President, seven minutes in the history of the nation, it's seven minutes a lot of people are using as a kind of Rorschach test."
On the money and party affiliation side for Disney, owner of ABC, and Viacom, owner of CBS: Disney CEO Michael Eisner is a long-time generous donor to Democratic candidates and in March former Senator George Mitchell, the very partisan Senate Majority Leader when Democrats held the body in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was elected Chairman of the Board of the Walt Disney Company. For more about Mitchell's ascension: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040304.asp#6
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ABC's Geoff Morrell warned that through Sinclair the documentary "could be seen by nearly a quarter of all U.S. households." CBS anchor Mika Brzezinski referred to Sinclair as "the nation's largest television group owners." Cobiella described Sinclair as "a company with the power to reach a quarter of American TV viewers. Sinclair owns 62 local television stations across the country, including affiliates of Fox, ABC, WB, UPN and three CBS stations, in a number of states still up for grabs in the presidential race."
In fact, as Cobiella alluded to, Sinclair is mainly made up of little-watched WB and UPN affiliates, as well as some stations so small they don't even have any network affiliation, and their few affiliations with ABC and CBS are limited to a few small markets. Their largest CBS affiliate is in Sacramento, the 19th largest market, and their largest ABC affiliate, on channel 30, is in an even smaller market, St. Louis. For a list of Sinclair's owned or operated stations (they manage many stations owned by others): http://www.sbgi.net/business/markets/all.shtml
Nonetheless, World News Tonight anchor Terry Moran treated Sinclair's programming as big news, announcing on the October 10 World News Tonight/Sunday: "A major broadcasting company, with access to more than 60 television stations, is stirring controversy this weekend with its plan to pre-empt regular programming in order to show a film attacking John Kerry. Democrats decry this move as a political smear and yellow journalism."
CBS Evening News anchor Mika Brzezinski intoned Sunday night:
"In a move likely to heat up discussion of the intersection of media and politics one of the nation's largest television group owners will announce shortly it's urging its stations to air a controversial film about the Democratic candidate for President."
Kelly Cobiella began: "It's called 'Stolen Honor,' a 42-minute film that asserts John Kerry's Vietnam war protests actually prolonged the war. Fellow Vietnam veteran and longtime Kerry critic Carlton Sherwood produced it, and claims Pennsylvania war veterans paid for it."
Man in movie: "It's about a treachery."
Cobiella: "The movie, available as an Internet pay-per-view, has found a broadcast distributor in Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group, a company with the power to reach a quarter of American TV viewers. Sinclair owns 62 local television stations across the country, including affiliates of Fox, ABC, WB, UPN and three CBS stations, in a number of states still up for grabs in the presidential race. A Sinclair executive tells CBS News the company wants its stations to air the film the third week of October as a news program, and says it has offered Senator Kerry a chance to answer the claims on air. The Kerry camp is skeptical."
Chad Clanton, Kerry campaign: "I think it's hard to take any offer seriously from any group that's going this far over the line."
Cobiella: "In the past eight years, Sinclair has given the lion's share of its political contributions to Republican candidates. This year, the company's CEO wrote out the largest personal check allowed by law to President Bush's re-election campaign. In a January interview with Television Week, Sinclair President and CEO David Smith said, 'Our news media has intentionally dumbed down the news, and we all know why they do: Because they have a political agenda.' The company made headlines in April for pre-empting a Nightline program on its ABC affiliates, accusing host Ted Koppel of trying to make a political statement by reading the names of soldiers killed in Iraq."
Danny Schechter, Mediachannel.org: "The public interest is being lost to the corporate interest."
Cobiella: "While media critic Danny Schechter says airing the anti-Kerry film so close to an election could be viewed as inappropriate, it does not break federal broadcast rules."
Schechter: "Others will follow if it's successful. The problem is, the truth could be a casualty."
Cobiella concluded: "It's the latest salvo in a campaign where media has become the weapon of choice."
The Los Angeles Times on Saturday first reported Sinclair's programming decision. The Baltimore Sun's version of that story: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-te.campaign09oct0 9,1,1283456.story?coll=bal-artslife-tv
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Full story http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20041011.asp
(senses panic..the wind shifts)
Letter from David Brock to David Smith -- MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA to SINCLAIR http://mediamatters.org/items/200410100001
The MSM wants to control the free flow of information.
Oh cry me a river!
Memo to ABC and CBS: "Physician, heal thyself."
I didn't hear this when CBS did their smear of the president...
Did they hollar when Michael Moore put his trash out in theaters? NO... in fact I'll bet CBS and ABC movie reviewers gave it a thumbs up... ABC CBS are trashy liberal shills...
That is so rich comming from ABC & CBS. I hope that they swirl around the toliet like the turds they are.
Next expect the lawyers to be sent out. The Dimwits really have a problem with the Freedom of Speech. When they backed MM and all his lies, the Republicans did not threaten theaters with law suits. This is exactly why health care costs a fortune-lawyers who belong to the Democratic Party.
Thanks for posting this.
Southack, this would be an appropriate place to repost the donations of these MSM maggots to the rats.
The MSM hates it when the broadcast media are used for any "propaganda" that isn't left-leaning. My brother works for a Sinclair station, and I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary.
Does anyone know how to find out if a local channel in one's area will be showing this film?
How many anti-Bush books has 60 Minutes and Good Morning America launched the free advertizing campaign for? 5? 6? 7?
Crap, the link won't work. I wonder if they have a station in the Denver area.
It's doing the work to bring the truth of John Kerry's activities to the American people since the media is selective in their criticism in aiming it entirely at Bush. Funny how the media constantly labelled Kerry as a 'war hero' but failed to inform people of his VVAW activities and the truth. Funny how the media don't call Kerry on his calling Bush a 'liar' on Iraq yet don't inform people of Kerry's longstanding record in regards to comments about Iraq and WMD. There is nothing they can challenge in regards to Kerry's activities with VVAW and that has them running scared. They don't have facts on their side. Too bad Swift Vets and now this are challenging the media in giving the people the truth on Kerry.
I read this weekend that his movie will run on TV right before the election. I'm sure they won't squeal about that!
I wish there was a way we could contribute to Sinclair. The media liberals are upset they can't censor the truth anymore like they used to do in the good old days. Now they have the Pajamahadeen on the one side and Sinclair on the other side. Its hard fighting a losing war on two fronts. When it comes to freedom of speech and integrity in reporting all you need to know are ABC and C-BS are whores for the DNC.
Stolen Honor is more honest and accurate.
It's doing the work to bring the truth of John Kerry's activities to the American people since the media is selective in their criticism in aiming it entirely at Bush. Funny how the media constantly labelled Kerry as a 'war hero' but failed to inform people of his VVAW activities and the truth. Funny how the media don't call Kerry on his calling Bush a 'liar' on Iraq yet don't inform people of Kerry's longstanding record in regards to comments about Iraq and WMD. There is nothing they can challenge in regards to Kerry's activities with VVAW and that has them running scared. They don't have facts on their side. Too bad Swift Vets and now this are challenging the media in giving the people the truth on Kerry.
They seem to be very familiar with smears and the color yellow.
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