Posted on 10/10/2004 8:40:33 PM PDT by neverdem
Up to 62 television stations owned or managed by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group - many of them in swing states - will show a documentary highly critical of Senator John Kerry's antiwar activities 30 years ago within the next two weeks, Sinclair officials said yesterday.
Those officials said the documentary would pre-empt regular night programming, including prime time, on its stations, which include affiliates for all six of the major broadcast networks in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Called "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," the documentary features Vietnam veterans who say their Vietnamese captors used Mr. Kerry's 1971 Senate testimony, in which he recounted stories of American atrocities, prolonging their torture and betraying and demoralizing them. Similar claims were made by prisoners of war in a commercial that ran during the summer from an anti-Kerry veterans group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Two of the former prisoners who appeared in the Swift Boat advertisement were interviewed for the movie, including Ken Cordier, who had to resign as a volunteer in the Bush campaign after the advertisement came out.
Sinclair's plan to show the documentary was first made public by The Los Angeles Times on Saturday.
Mark Hyman, Sinclair's vice president for corporate relations, who doubles as a conservative commentator on its news stations, said the film would be shown because Sinclair deemed it newsworthy.
"Clearly John Kerry has made his Vietnam service the foundation of his presidential run; this is an issue that is certainly topical," he said. Asked what defined something as newsworthy, Mr. Hyman said, "In that it hasn't been out in the marketplace, and the news marketplace."
Because Sinclair is defining the documentary - which will run commercial free - as news, it is unclear if it will be required by federal regulations to provide Mr. Kerry's campaign with equal time to respond.
But acknowledging that news standards call for fairness, Mr. Hyman said an invitation has been extended to Mr. Kerry to respond after the documentary is shown. "There are certainly serious allegations that are leveled; we would very much like to get his response," he said.
Asked if Sinclair would consider running a documentary of similar length either lauding Mr. Kerry, responding to the charges in "Stolen Honor" or criticizing Mr. Bush, Mr. Hyman said, "We'd just have to take a look at it."
Aides to Mr. Kerry said he would not accept Sinclair's invitation.
"It's hard to take an offer seriously from a group that is hellbent on doing anything to help elect President Bush even if that means violating basic journalism standards," said Chad Clanton, a Kerry spokesman.
Sinclair's plans put Mr. Kerry's campaign in an awkward position similar to the one in which it found itself in August, when the Swift Boat group first began running commercials against him containing unsubstantiated charges that he lied to get his war medals. Mr. Kerry's aides at first held back from responding, so as not to give the group and its charges more attention - a decision that some Kerry aides now acknowledge cost him in public opinion polls.
Mr. Clanton said Mr. Kerry's campaign would call on supporters to stage advertiser boycotts and demonstrations against Sinclair's stations.
A group of Democratic senators, including Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California, readied a letter calling for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the move, arguing that the documentary was not news but a prolonged political advertisement from Mr. Bush and, as such, violated fairness rules.
Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, an advocacy group promoting greater media regulation, said he did not think the film would qualify for a news exemption. And, he said, even if it did fall under equal time provisions, those are based on candidate appearances and in this case, since it is Mr. Kerry who appears, "albeit disparagingly," stations would be required to show Mr. Bush or possibly the independent candidate Ralph Nader, if they requested it.
Sinclair was already a galvanizing force for Democrats. The political donations of its executives have gone overwhelmingly to Republicans, according to a review of donations on Politicalmoneyline.com. In April Sinclair refused to run an episode of "Nightline" on its stations in which the anchor Ted Koppel spent the entire program reading the names of American soldiers killed in Iraq.
"Stolen Honor" was produced by Carlton Sherwood, formerly a reporter with The Washington Times. His Web site says he received no money from any political party or campaign but got initial funding from Pennsylvania veterans.
The documentary has been distributed by mail order and via streaming Internet connections. Mr. Hyman said Sinclair was not paying for the right to broadcast it.
God it gets me steamed to read 'rats whine about 'journalistic ethics' when rightwingers attack leftists and then turn around shower nothing but praise on cretins like Michael Moore. The 'rats have never thought twice about throwing a sucker punch but never fail to run to teacher whenever the right fights back.
Does Bush get an hour of equal time after every CBS News broadcast?
Semper Fi
Yeah, I know.
He will hear the voices until the time he will rot in hell.
Hanoi Jane will keep him company there.
ping
Rosen's blog:
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/
You just got to love the true face of the newspaper of lies and misdemeanors (and they still think they are the paper of record....NOT). Sounds like Jayson Blair must still be doing the research).</p>
Air it on all 62 stations -- regardless of whether they are swing states. The more exposure, the better. This is a news item to give equal time against 60 Minutes hit pieces...how many books now? Not to mention forged documents.
Woo Hoo!!! Sinclair owns the Fox affiliate in Des Moines, so hopefully it will indeed be shown here! Thanks for providing a list of Sinclair owned stations.
And the hits just keep comin'! Woooooha!
John Kerry's Discharge - He won't sign Form 180 - What is he hiding?Man. And it looks like the MEDIA are gonna totally let him get away with it.
I wish Dubya would say Wednesday during the debate:
"I've signed mine, why don't you sign your form 180 ??"
BTTT!!!!!!
NY TSlimes, no bias against truth?
Meanwhile, a few weeks ago the local mall movie house featured 3 pro Kerry films. And where is Fahrenhype 9/11 in the local blockbuster stores ??
Yes, answering questions can be awkward if "at first you practice to deceive."
A guess. Maybe they know that it won't fly so they're trying to drum up some publicity for the film.
To find a Sinclair Broadcasting Group station
http://www.sbgi.net/business/television.shtml
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