OOGA BOOGA!Posted on 10/11/2004 1:13:07 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON (AP) The Democratic Party and 18 senators are objecting to a broadcasting company's plan to air on 62 TV stations a critical documentary about John Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned home from Vietnam three decades ago.
Sinclair Broadcast Group has asked its television stations -- many of them in competitive states in the presidential election -- to pre-empt regular programming to run the documentary as part of an hourlong program two weeks before the Nov. 2 election.
Based near Baltimore, the company owns or manages affiliates of major broadcast networks in several states, including Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. Among its affiliates are WPGH, a Fox station, and WCWB, a WB station, in Pittsburgh.
Mark Hyman, a vice president of corporate relations for Sinclair who also is a conservative commentator for the company, said Monday the show would contain some or all of the 42-minute film as well as a panel discussion of some sort. He said final details had not been worked out.
The documentary, called "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," chronicles Kerry's 1971 testimony before Congress and links him to activist and actress Jane Fonda. It includes interviews with Vietnam prisoners of war and their wives who claim that Kerry's testimony -- filled with "lurid fantasies of butchery in Vietnam" on the part of U.S. troops -- demeaned them and led their captors to hold them longer.
The Democratic National Committee planned to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday contending that Sinclair's airing of the film should be considered an illegal in-kind contribution to President Bush's campaign. Also, 18 Democratic senators sent a letter to the Federal Communication Commission asking that it investigate whether Sinclair's plan was an improper use of public airwaves.
However, Sinclair's Hyman said, "The documentary is just a part of a special news event that we're putting together. We've invited one person to be a guest. That's Senator John Kerry." The company posted a note on its Web site Monday afternoon urging people to call Kerry's headquarters to urge his participation.
Chad Clanton, a Kerry campaign spokesman, said, "Everything is on the table but it's hard to take an offer seriously from a group with such a fierce partisan agenda, a group that's clearly not interested in the truth."
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said the company was acting as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party rather than a legitimate news outlet.
"In this election cycle, they have put their money where their right-wing mouths are," he said. "Sinclair's owners aren't interested in news. They're interested in pro-Bush propaganda."
Campaign finance records show that the company's executives have donated thousands of dollars to Bush's campaign. In April, the company was in the news for refusing to run a "Nightline" show in which hundreds of names of American troops killed in Iraq were read by ABC anchor Ted Koppel.
Hyman called the allegations about the documentary "absolutely absurd."
"Would they suggest that our reporting a car bomb in Iraq is an in-kind contribution to the Kerry campaign? Would they suggest that our reporting on job losses is an in-kind contribution to the Kerry campaign?" he said. "It's the news. It is what it is. We're reporting the news."
Carlton Sherwood, a Vietnam veteran and former journalist who made the film, said Monday that he felt the media had not explored the period of Kerry's life after he returned from Vietnam, including when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee alleging atrocities in Vietnam.
"For 33 years, we've been saying that how Kerry portrayed us was utterly false. It was purgatory of the worst kind. It was slander," Sherwood said. "But no one wanted to talk about it. Everybody ran for cover."
Sherwood, based in Harrisburg, Pa., said the film took six weeks to make, and Sinclair contacted him last month upon the film's completion. He said he was told last week of the company's plans to run it, and that the company was not compensating him for the film.
OOGA BOOGA!Mau Maus join Kerry's campaign.
Now that's funny Terry, considering ABC, CBS, PBS, and NBC are pro-Kerry.
Thats what it looks like...
Ah, the Dims have finally located a film to censor. Well, what else do you call it when you file a complaint with the federal government to stop a film from being shown? (Other than small-minded and insecure.)
Just remember to NOT buy a boat from the guy.
What better way to make someone want to see a film than to try and keep them from doing so?
It's just like their cries to censor "Unfit for Command."
Did they file a complaint with the FEC for that, too?
True true.
You're never going to get balance (note I live in NZ so don't get to see US tv coverage & how its slanted).
From a distance though it appears that things like Stolen Honour and Farenheit 9/11 generate more heat than light.
I think the media focus should be on who will best prosecute the war on terror, how do the candidates differ in their policies?
I think the electorate needs these specifics more than highly politicised doco's.
And this article is from SeeBS 2 Chicago? The cellar dweller of the three majors in Chicago? And by the way, there isn't even a Sinclair affiliate in Chicago to broadcast this program so why is CBS 2 Chicago even worried about this? No one in their audience will see it!
I agree .. but what I think is really bothering the dems is the fact Sinclair is showing the video on TV which is no cost to the consumer.
The fact they're trying to stop it will make the consumer seek it out. I'd like to see it too. Anybody know if I can search for Sinclair and find a local station from that info ..??
Bump for later.
THANK YOU. Have been looking for that controversy--probably with the wrong keywords. How many Dems signers of the current letter signed the first (Cleland-delivered) letter? I haven't seen a list yet.
No thanks, I'll take the free exchange of ideas as regulated by the market any day over paternalist regulatory schemes. I'd prefer to decide what's good for me, instead of leaving it to the FEC, thank you very much.
For those who wondered like I did, here's where Sinclair has stuff going on:
So I guess the demonrats think the 1st amendment only applies to traitors like that fat slob moore but not to heros like vietnam veterans. The demonrats are way over the edge, bunch of corrupt filthy sissy liars that have gone socialist/communist.
Does anyone have the e mail address of Sinclair??? I would personally like to thank them !!
"The Democratic Party and 18 senators are objecting to a broadcasting company's plan to air on 62 TV stations a critical documentary about John Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned home from Vietnam three decades ago."
Hey Kerry, if the shoe fits, wear it. Your an anti war, anti military, anti intelligence, hippy old time peacenik throwback from the 70's. Every statement you make about Iraq undermines our Troops and efforts to stabalize that country.
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