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
The OLD MEDIA wants to control the free flow of information.
BTTT
This is how fascists act. John McCain is a fascist enabler. They truly believe that "some are more equal than others" and will do whatever is necessary to keep it that way.
tough shit!!
Yep, it IS necessary to "take back the US."
The Kerry-Kennedy-Clinton Democrats are the people the nation needs to be taken back from. Thank you for pointing out the need for that. We're on it.
Have a nice day.
Cordially,
John Armor, Esq.
Post Script: Michael Moore is a moral, intellectual, artistic, historical and physical pig. Anyone who cannot see that is deliberately blind.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "America Fails the 'Global Test' "
If you haven't already joined the anti-CFR effort, please click here.
They called my precious Laurie Dhue a blond bimbo?!?!!
THEMS FIGHTIN WORDS, DUDE!
I will seriously throw down with anyone saying anything bad about my Laurie
"Remember they (Fox) are the channel that has hauled Dan Rather over the coals and routinely allows their "opinion journalists" to classify other media competitors as elitist, liberal, biased, goofy, dopey, pinhead, anti-American, anti-patriotic, Kerry-loving, etc....... .."
couldn't have said it better...
I LIKE FOX and Sinclair!
The Dems are going down in flames! The next 3 weeks will be the most entertaining event in the history of American politics. I can't wait to see Terry McAuliffe on November 3. And AL Gore as well. Two losers consoling another loser.
My email to MediaMatters.org..
I understand you are upset that "Stolen Honor" is categorized as news by it's makers.. Well, it is news - just the same way as Fahrenheit 9/11 is a "documentary", - so where's the problem?
I also understand that you are exhorting Sinclair not to show the movie, why would that be?
After all, "Stolen Honor" is factually correct and is supported by congressional record, unlike the fabrications of CBS or the 45 proven lies of Fahrenheit 9/11.
Can you show me a copy of your letter to CBS exhorting them not to show their fabrication and forgery regarding George Bush's military service?
Thought not, doesn't exist, does it?
So in the words of Teresa Kerry - "Shove it!"
What goes around, comes around - what's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander.
It worked for me too that time. Thanks.
The only way to get any action out of CBS is through the pocketbook. I hear CBS's ratings are plummeting all over the country. I encourage any and everyone to sell their Viacom stock. If it tanks, the shareholders will revolt and demand action on Rather and CBS.
bttt
You mean snookered like the American people were in 1992? And what's this about a level playing field? Don't be ridiculous. This is war and we will never give the enemies of our Republic a level playing field. Expect to slide off the edge of the earth by the time this is over.
However, if it is in a fund say of 160 stocks.( Many invest through fund managers, so all our eggs are not in one basket)that is a difficult thing to do.. to just say sell Viacom.
I'm all a-tears
Here's my post on their sad little site:
All the media save Fox News are on Kerry's side and you have a problem with a small chain running a documentary? What about all the free publicity ABCCBSNBCPBS gave to that sack o' suet Michael Moore? What about Dan Rather's lies? How about Mark Halperin's biased e-mail? Grow up! Politics is a rough & tumble business, kids.
Wisconsin and Iowa--good.
David Brock can go entertain himself.
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