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Sinclair TV's Attack on Kerry Shows Risks of Media Mergers
A political ad disguised as a news program to try to smear Senator John Kerry shortly before Election Day could come back to haunt Sinclair Broadcast Group the next time it lobbies the FCC for the right to buy more TV and radio stations.
The one-hour program attacking Kerry preempted primetime shows in more than 40 cities where Sinclair - whose owners and executives are major Republican donors - own 62 television stations on various networks.
Public officials, media watchers, union leaders and others who oppose FCC rule changes letting giant media corporations get even bigger say Sinclair's abuse of the public airwaves gave critics of consolidated ownership their best ammunition yet.
"This is a prime example of how a media ownership system that allows one corporation to control so much of the airwaves can have a detrimental effect on democracy," said Linda Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA. Together with CWA President Morton Bahr, NABET-CWA President John Clark and thousands of CWA members, Foley has been instrumental in fighting the FCC's recent round of ownership rule changes.
Sinclair's original plans called for airing a full 42-minute film, produced by a discredited journalist, assailing Kerry for speaking out against the Vietnam War after his military service.
The Los Angeles Times broke the story Oct. 9 and CWA members, along with other unions and activist groups, immediately began circulating and signing petitions, calling Sinclair stations and calling and e-mailing advertisers, some of whom at least temporarily pulled commercials from local Sinclair stations.
The company's stock plummeted, leading shareholders to threaten legal action. Meanwhile Sinclair fired its Washington, D.C., bureau chief, Jon Leiberman, for publicly condemning the company's plan as partisan and irresponsible.
Leiberman told reporters there's a "culture of fear" at Sinclair. "Nobody will speak out at Sinclair," he said, as reported by an Alternet columnist. "But I know in my heart what they're doing is wrong. It's not fair and balanced … It's pure propaganda, and they're trying to shoehorn what should be a format for editorials or commentary into news."
The company ultimately dropped its plan to air the full film and denied that it ever intended to do so. Instead, it ran clips of the film with commentary packaged as a "special news event." While still overwhelmingly anti-Kerry, the program made note of the controversy over President Bush's National Guard service and included a short segment of a documentary that lauded Kerry's Vietnam record.
Bahr noted that Sinclair is the same company that required its ABC stations to censor the "Nightline" program earlier this year that honored those who have died in Iraq by showing their pictures and reading their names. Sinclair executives claimed it was political propaganda.
The one-hour program attacking Kerry preempted primetime shows in more than 40 cities where Sinclair - whose owners and executives are major Republican donors - own 62 television stations on various networks.
Public officials, media watchers, union leaders and others who oppose FCC rule changes letting giant media corporations get even bigger say Sinclair's abuse of the public airwaves gave critics of consolidated ownership their best ammunition yet.
"This is a prime example of how a media ownership system that allows one corporation to control so much of the airwaves can have a detrimental effect on democracy," said Linda Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA. Together with CWA President Morton Bahr, NABET-CWA President John Clark and thousands of CWA members, Foley has been instrumental in fighting the FCC's recent round of ownership rule changes.
Sinclair's original plans called for airing a full 42-minute film, produced by a discredited journalist, assailing Kerry for speaking out against the Vietnam War after his military service.
The Los Angeles Times broke the story Oct. 9 and CWA members, along with other unions and activist groups, immediately began circulating and signing petitions, calling Sinclair stations and calling and e-mailing advertisers, some of whom at least temporarily pulled commercials from local Sinclair stations.
The company's stock plummeted, leading shareholders to threaten legal action. Meanwhile Sinclair fired its Washington, D.C., bureau chief, Jon Leiberman, for publicly condemning the company's plan as partisan and irresponsible.
Leiberman told reporters there's a "culture of fear" at Sinclair. "Nobody will speak out at Sinclair," he said, as reported by an Alternet columnist. "But I know in my heart what they're doing is wrong. It's not fair and balanced … It's pure propaganda, and they're trying to shoehorn what should be a format for editorials or commentary into news."
The company ultimately dropped its plan to air the full film and denied that it ever intended to do so. Instead, it ran clips of the film with commentary packaged as a "special news event." While still overwhelmingly anti-Kerry, the program made note of the controversy over President Bush's National Guard service and included a short segment of a documentary that lauded Kerry's Vietnam record.
Bahr noted that Sinclair is the same company that required its ABC stations to censor the "Nightline" program earlier this year that honored those who have died in Iraq by showing their pictures and reading their names. Sinclair executives claimed it was political propaganda.