WP: Anti-Kerry Film Won't Be Aired

[kskiska]

Under mounting political, legal and financial pressure, Sinclair Broadcast Group yesterday backed away from its plan to carry a film attacking John F. Kerry's Vietnam War record, saying it would air only portions of the movie in an hour-long special scheduled for Friday.

"The experience of preparing to air this news special has been trying for many of those involved," Sinclair chief executive David D. Smith said in a statement. "The company and many of its executives have endured personal attacks of the vilest nature, as well as calls on our advertisers and our viewers to boycott our stations and on our shareholders to sell their stock."

(snip)

Sinclair said it will produce "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media," hosted by Jeff Barnd, an anchor at Sinclair's WBFF in Baltimore, using footage from "Stolen Honor" and other political documentaries while examining allegations of media bias. The company now says that it never intended to air "Stolen Honor" in its entirety, although Sinclair commentator and vice president Mark Hyman had told The Washington Post that the movie would air unless the Massachusetts senator agreed to an interview, in which case only portions might run.

"I am not personally aware that he ever said that, but if he said it, that was not company policy at the time," Sinclair lawyer Barry Faber said. He said Sinclair's position on the film has been "evolving" and that journalists and critics had made a "leap to judgment."

"There has been a misunderstanding of what our intention was," Faber said, "in part because it wasn't clear to us what our intention was."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46338-2004Oct19.html

[deadparrot]

1. Not airing AT ALL? None of this "only show some of it" BS?

[Cronus Protagonist]

25. They expect us to fall for the old "pull my finger" trick

Not a fucking chance.

[Amigust]

55. Entire or not, it's already clear Sinclair will use the footage that is

most critical of Kerry, even though the claims against Kerry are outrageous distortions. Alleged former POW's claim Kerry worsened their condition by exposing the atrocities he described in his 1971 testimony. The reverse is more likely true, that his testimony, as a vital part of this nation's awakening to the Vietnam horror, probably helped bring the war (and therefore the POW confinements) to an earlier end than otherwise would have happened.

As to the accuracy of Kerry's 1971 testimony, history has already well established its accuracy.

The movie totally distorts Kerry's testimony by claiming Kerry was painting ALL Vietnam service members with the same brush. Absolute rubbish, as any honest inquirer can discern. What is clear in the testimony is that he was describing what individual GI's had revealed to him about their personal experience in the war, not what ALL GI's were doing.

View the October 13 Democracy Now! report for coverage of the issue.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/13/144229"

John Kerry Then: Hear Kerry's Historic 1971 Testimony Against the Vietnam War (Democracy Now!)
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/20/1535232

The official movie website
http://www.stolenhonor.com/documentary/background.asp


Now is certainly NOT the time to ease up on the pressure. These poor little victims at Sinclair would like to make us look away, before sticking the knife in.
.

[Tesibria]

2. WOW -- active citizenship WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

every single DUer (and others) who participated in the boycott activities should be patting themselves on the back right now...!!!!!


:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[Born Free]

62. power to the people

The American people do have the power to make change, but they must remain steadfast in their determination to make positive change. Democrats can not sit back an let the right wing take America down the wrong road, democrats need to remain forceful and insist America follow the right course.

[llmart]

87. I was thinking the same thing......

This election has proven once again that the power is with the people. Never underestimate the power in numbers. It is what a true democracy flourishes on. In the past, too many of us progressives have not done enough and have been guilty of sitting on our thumbs. However, I will hand it to Bush. He sure has been a "uniter" this time around. He has united the populace to fight him and his cronies with everything we have. I have to say that not since the Nixon debacle have I seen such a committed effort by progressives to get this country back on track. I love it!

[0007]

68. The fat lady hasn't sung yet, so I wouldn't be so confident that this

play or ACT is complete, or over. Showing part of it is not good enough!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. LOL after they fire an employee for disagreeing with them

they bitch about free speech? Priceless~!

[David Zephyr]

24. Priceless.

Nothing like a class action lawsuit by investors to sober these "men" up, huh?

1.) They move like Bush, but they love their money more.

2.) They may have even promised Karl Rove the ninety minutes of October Surprise he'd asked for (notice it is already down to sixty minutes?), but they love their money more.

3.) They may even owe Michael Powell the anti-Kerry documentary, but they love their money more.

Class Action Always Scares the Shit out of Corporate Execs. Always.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1044974

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

31. What's humorous is that they act like liberals silenced them

Uh THE FUCKING FREE MARKET DID YOU ASSHOLES!!!!

[pa28]

51. That's right on.

The so called "vile personal attacks" had nothing to do with it. The prospect of Sinclair becoming a penny stock had everything to do with it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

82. there is no more vile a personal attack than that movie

[Eye and Monkey]

4. "it wasn't clear to us what our intention was."

Niiiicccce. Raising self-delusion and incompetence as a defense?

[Guaranteed]

11. LOL I caught that, too

WTF?

That's alright, we knew what their intentions were.

[gavodotcom]

21. Yeah, what he's saying is:

The brothers decided to run it, damn the torpedoes.

People within the company were like "oh no you dinn't." Didn't matter to the owner brothers.

Stock falls 15% since they announced their intentions, that is, the brothers make a much larger campaign contribution than they wanted to.

No end in sight, their stock is getting shorted, which means prices will continue to go down.

Now, interestingly, either the brothers decide to relent, either from financial or political pressure -or- they still don't, and what you're seeing is an internal coup in the company.


In any case, it's really funny, and I can't wait to see Mortimer and Randolph begging for change.

[puddycat]

5. Gee, why don't I trust anything that Smith of Sinclair says?

The whole thing sounds like a set-up, and still biased against Kerry.

[Eloriel]

26. You're on the right track, I think

I saw the interview with Lieberman on Olbermann tonight, and Liebermann was describing the original staff meeting where the management was telling the staff that what they wanted done, which sounds amazingly like what they are saying now they're going to do, was to take that documentary, and cut it up with the news staff (reporters) taking parts of it and packaging it as news segments.

I'm very worried that this "capitulation" is nothing of the sort.

It's the old Repug tactic: okay, give 'em what they want -- our way.

[clydefrand]

6. I predict "again" that none of it will be shown

Too much flack from investors going Sinclair's way. They will be sued to the hilt if their stock keeps going down and retirement funds are jeapordized as stated by the New York Comptroller in previous post.


"There has been a misunderstanding of what our intention was," Faber said, "in part because it wasn't clear to us what our intention was."

The above sentence has been their way out all the time. Well, is it clear now???????????????

[DannyRed]

7. Bullshit

"There has been a misunderstanding of what our intention was," Faber said, "in part because it wasn't clear to us what our intention was."

Yeah, that's why it has ALREADY been put into the various TV Guides and Program Listings as "Stolen Honor"...right asshole?

Wrong, you're busted and you're going DOWN.

[Art_from_Ark]

30. What kind of management is it that isn't

"clear" on what its intentions are? :crazy:

[belle]

40. The same as the one in the White House, hello.

There's a lot of that going around these days...

:eyes:

[Art_from_Ark]

58. That question was meant to be sarcastically rhetorical

(as indicated by the way the eyes of my smilie icon are moving)

[belle]

86. Yes, mine too...

[puddycat]

8. bottom line: money is their daddy, and daddy was leaving

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

9. I've got a big bag of steaming dog shit to leave at Sinclair's doorstep...

...how's that for an "attack of the vilest nature"?

As, with all Repuke fascist bullies, Sinclair proves the point that these guys are really pussies and all it takes is a swift kick to their bank book to get them to change tunes.

As if, we're going to forget their bullshit...right.

JB

[DBoon]

10. Karma bites back!

The company and many of its executives have endured personal attacks of the vilest nature,

Welcome to what Liberals and other Progressives have had to put up with for too long.

No death threats mentioned - I assume nothing went this far. tsk tsk. Such thin skins.

[Philostopher]

17. I prefer to think of it as ...

pre-emptive strikes. They're the ones who get off on pre-emptive strikes, aren't they?

WE LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU, DAD!!

[liberalmuse]

12. Wow. Now I feel bad...

"The company and many of its executives have endured personal attacks of the vilest nature, as well as calls on our advertisers and our viewers to boycott our stations and on our shareholders to sell their stock."

Did we have to be so mean? Did we??? I don't know if I can sleep tonight after picking on the pooh wittle bitty FASCISTS! HAHAHAHAHA! Pathetic.

[Guaranteed]

13. Attacks of the vilest nature...OH LOL!!!

I forgot about the PROSTITUTION incident!! ROFL!!

[Arugula Latte]

81. How dare they launch vile attacks...

while they're trying to launch a vile attack on Kerry. Oh, the nerve!

[high density]

14. This is complete bull

Read David Shuster's blog entry on the subject:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/

Facing a stock price that continues to plummet... and pressured by the withdrawl of more than 75 regular advertisers, The Sinclair Broadcast Group announced today that it will not air the partisan documentary "Stolen Honor" in its entirety. Pay close attention to the phrase "in its entirety" (more on that below.)

In a press release, Sinclair said 40 of its 62 stations would air a one-hour program Friday evening entitled "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure, and the Media." The program will raise allegations about John Kerry's anti-war activites in the early 1970's. The Sinclair press release says, "we are endeavoring, as we do with all of our news coverage, to present both sides of the issue covered in an equal and impartial manner."

Let's cut through the spin. First, this is the same plan that was discussed at a company meeting on Sunday attended by Sinclair correspondent Jon Lieberman. ...

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/

[Dover]

15. Power to the people!

Way to kick some corp. arse! Keep it up...

Let's cut through the spin. First, this is the same plan that was discussed at a company meeting on Sunday attended by Sinclair correspondent Jon Lieberman. After the meeting, Lieberman complained publicly that Sinclair was planning an hour of "political propaganda." (Lieberman was then fired.) Secondly, two sources at Sinclair confirm that while Stolen Honor will not air in it's entirety, the program will contain "large chunks" of the documentary. (See previous blogs for a rundown on the factual errors that permeate the entire film.) Thirdly, this "news coverage" on John Kerry's war activities from 35 years ago is the first "special" Sinclair has produced in this presidential campaign. There have been no "news specials" or "special programming" on Iraq, Al-Qaeda, 9-11, terrorism, taxes, health care, education... or anything else you can think of that the candidates have been asked to take a position on. Fourthly, despite Sinclair's press release that it endeavors to "present both sides of the issue," the only documentary film maker who has been invited to participate is Carlton Sherwood of "Stolen Honor.". (No other documentary film maker has been asked... and there are several who have done films about Kerry's anti war activities that are far more factually honest.) Furthermore, two sources inside Sinclair say the company is still planning to exclude any response from the Kerry campaign unless Senator Kerry himself appears on the program. Finally, despite Sinclair's continued description of Friday's program as "news coverage," the fact remains that Stolen Honor was released 6 weeks ago. Last spring, in response to complaints about Sinclair refusing to broadcast the "Nightline" when Ted Koppel read the name of every soldier killed in Iraq, Sinclair issued this statement: "We do not believe political statements should be disguised as news content." So much for continuity.

[madmax]

16. They're starting to sound like bush

"There has been a misunderstanding of what our intention was," Faber said, "in part because it wasn't clear to us what our intention was."

[Gyre]

44. All the shitbags in the country have been

emulating the lower life form in the WH. I've got people at work spewing the same kind of disingenous hogwash w/ a sincere look on their mugs. Funny that all of the same ones who try that arer repubes. Seems to come as a complete shock when they're called on their BS! Yeah, right.

Gyre

[sandnsea]

18. People, this is worse

Now they're going to make us out to be a bunch of lefty loonies trying to thwart free speech. We didn't win anything. The real spin battle begins now. Don't be fooled.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

56. Good point, but tangential to the real motive: smearing Kerry

It's all just more spin and PR thrown into the spin cycle for yet more media spinning and regurgitating of aspersions and innuendo casting Kerry in as bad a light as possible.

[xxqqqzme]

59. just what I was thinking

Time 2 re-double out efforts. They're rabid, radical RW rethugs and as such U can be assured they R lying.

[NVMojo]

19. what a great way to manipulate public sentiment ...

the poor victims got bullied by the mean liberal public and now the poor things can only show parts of the anti-Kerry smear story. How come they didn't get upset when the conservatives stop the Reagan movie for airing?

The public needs to be reminded that these are the same f*ckers who don't that it is news that our soldiers are dying in Bush's debacle. Screw them all and don't let up.

[NVMojo]

49. geez, i was on the phone, not drunk when i did that post!!

apologies for poor grammar or whatever...

[GaryL]

20. Keep writing folks!

Until they say they will not prempt ONE show for ten seconds over any of this bull until AFTER the election, the boycott stands. Keep piling on.

[billyoc]

23. This is the time to really turn it on

And get the boycott momentum going even stronger.

[donheld]

96. I totally agree

We may have won the battle, but the war is NOT over

[Cronus Protagonist]

22. Keep hitting them- We need that last little push to make the stock cheaper

Get it down to a price that Soros or Gore can buy the network. This is the way the Republicans play the game and it's time we learned how to do it too. You don't back off when they're lying on the ground gasping, you finish them off.

It's not like they'll die or anything, so I say let's win one for Gore.

Let's ROLL!!



(I know, it's hard work)



"So I don't worry about, and people shouldn't
worry about a draft. . . I think we're in good
shape, I really do. And, if not, we'll -- I'll address
the nation. But I don't see any need to right now."
- G. W. Bush (Source: The Whitehouse)

http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[benburch]

27. OK, now the sucker punch

TAKE THEM DOWN.

Don't let up on the boycott.

Don't let there be a next time.

[WLKjr]

28. crank it up more

burn em'. Keep the heat on.

[Alpharetta]

29. Translation: we're still showing it

"We never intended to show all of it"

has become

"We're going to show a lot of it"

Not much difference. I'm still honoring the boycott.

[Indykatie]

34. Boycotts Effect

It's been very rewarding to see the negative impact that the boycott has had on SGBI. I believe they will back off all together in the end. Funny how the media is always trotted out as the explanation when s^%t hits the fan with conservatives.

[cosmicone]

32. We need to increase pressure now that

we have broken inertia. Now that this beast is moving from the push, it will be a lot easier to keep pushing it until it is thrown off the cliff.

[goodboy]

33. "unless the Massachusetts senator agreed to an interview"

Is that an ultimatum, blackmail?

[Dem2theMax]

35. It's all more Bushshit. Keep writing letters. Keep calling. BOYCOTT.

Washington Post headline is FALSE. They ARE airing it. Nothing has changed. Who do they think we are? Stupid freepers?


:kick:

[struggle4progress]

36. It's hard to imagine what vile attacks could possibly have been ...

... directed against David "How Much Do You Charge for a Blowjob?" Smith or against Carlton "How Dare You Attack Moon the Messiah!" Sherwood.

Poor misunderstood Sinclair! "... it wasn't clear to us what our intention was." With a business model like that, no wonder their stock is tanking.

[TexasBushwhacker]

37. I guess they thought we would take it laying down

These guys are so clueless, they really deserve to go out of business. They can't be trusted with the public airwaves, or with stockholder's money.

[TexasProgressive]

38. Warning - It isn't over

Stop congratulating yourselves, people.

THEY ARE LYING to you.

I am a proud veteran of the Stop Dr. Laura campaign.

These accouncements are intended to pacify us.

Now is the time to double and triple your efforts.

DON'T TRUST THEM.

[Cheswick2.0]

39. They won't show it if Kerry agrees to an interview...thgen they will air

parts of it?

FUCK THEM

BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT BOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTTBOYCOTT, BOYCOTT

[Carolab]

41. NONE OF THIS IS NEWS

AND DOES NOT QUALIFY TO BE AIRED AS SUCH. IT IS PARTISAN SLANDER. KEEP UP THE ATTACK!!

[demgrrrll]

42. I agree. This is just a smoke screen so they can push this heap of trash

to the finish line. What is anyone going to be able to do once the show has aired? I noted that one station has chosen to play this on Saturday airing in competition with the first game of the world series. I have been busy. I have e mailed and called but that is about all I have had time to do. There is going to be a protest one hour before the show airs on KDNL here in St. Louis but I would rather that the show did not air at all! What else can be done?

[Justice]

43. What May have gotten to them is the insider trading claim

posted on www.talkingpointsmemo.com


Some great TRIAL lawyer figured out that the insiders sold their stock/took out profits this year, before making this announcement (and before the resulting plummet in value). This allows claims against the individuals -- not just the company.

Brillant. Trial. Lawyer

[Reciprocity]

45. Blame it all on the trial lawyer's.

This is the prime example of why no one person/company should own more than one network/newspaper. It gives them the power to unduly influence the outcome of an election.

Some more good news.

Sinclair: Show focuses on influence of documentaries on elections
<snip>
Shareholders, meanwhile, challenged Sinclair's plans Tuesday, saying the flap over the controversial broadcast may hurt their investment.

Attorney William S. Lerach said he planned to sue on behalf of shareholders, alleging insider trading by top executives as well as damage from the decision to air the film. Media Matters, a media advocacy group, announced it was underwriting the costs of a shareholder action demanding equal time for opposing views.

And New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi sent a letter expressing concern to Sinclair on behalf of the state's pension fund, which owns shares in the broadcasting company.

Sinclair shares dropped more than 3 percent Tuesday, falling 23 cents to $6.26 a share on the NASDAQ market. Sinclair stock dropped about 8 percent on Monday, and is down from a high of more than $15 a share in January.
For more
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--sincla...

52 Week Low 6.37
52 Week High 15.43

[milkyway]

46. NOT GOOD! IT'S A BAIT AND SWITCH! Read the article--it says they will

show parts of it during an hour-long special called, "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media." They'll get their point across about Kerry by showing clips from the documentary, then talk about how evil liberals stopped them from showing the whole thing. We'll get a lot of hand-wringing about how left-wing extremists are forcing their values on the rest of the country. This will be worse than just showing the whole documentary.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

57. Good point. It is now an incremental smear

Dosed a little bit at a time to the sheeple, but the full dose is intended for a later application.

[Coconut Buddha Ape]

47. Keep a wary eye, people...

I fully expect this to get thrown back at us with redoubled force...

Hypothetical: What if they had no intention of really letting it air knowing that it would alienate much of their audience? These people are, after all, businessmen. The bottom line is the dollar.

What if, rather, they wanted the threat of running it out in the public arena?

Then all they have to do is pull it-- They keep most of their audience, and meanwhile let the right wing bizzaro world scream about how "them damn whiney libruhls" want to stifle the truth and quiet dissenting opinions.

It plays right into the hands of the powers that be. It keeps the populace at each other's throats instead of demanding accountability from their elected officials.

They are setting the stage for a government witchhunt that will make Clinton's troubles look like an interview for shift manager at Burger King in comparison.

Excuse me while I vomit.

[Steelangel]

48. bullshit

they will still air the film... hell, they can just edit one minute out and call it, 'it never intended to air "Stolen Honor" in its entirety'.

People, don't believe their words.

[George_S]

50. http://sinclairwatch.net/

[Nordic]

52. it's obviously just a ploy to get us to back off

They're still gonna air an hour of propaganda, starring their film.

Typical rethuglican tactic. Typical tactic of anybody evil, in fact. Saddam Hussein used it all the time. So did Milosevic.

"we'll comply" they announce, then they go right ahead and do whatever the hell they want.

[pauliedangerously]

53. That's not enough!!! FUCK THAT!!

Keep up the pressure. Mark Hyman can kiss my french ass.

[Dem2theMax]

54. Here's the schedule of the show that 'isn't airing'

The list of stations, date and time of the 'not airing' show.

Market & Stations To Air "A POW Story"

Baltimore WBFF Friday 10/22 8PM
Birmingham WTTO Friday 10/22 7PM
Buffalo WUTV Friday- 10/22 8PM
Cedar Rapids KGAN Friday 10/22 7PM
Champaign, IL WICD Friday 10/22 7PM
Charleston, SC WMMP Friday 10/22 8PM
Charleston, WV WCHS Friday 10/22 8PM
Cincinnati WSTR Friday 10/22 8PM
Columbus WSYX Friday 10/22 8PM
Dayton WKEF Friday 10/22 8PM
Des Moines KDSM Friday 10/22 7PM
Flint WSMH Friday 10/22 8PM
Greensboro WXLV Friday 10/22 8PM
Greenville/Asheville WLOS Friday 10/22 8PM
Kansas City KSMO Friday 10/22 7PM
Las Vegas KVWB Friday 10/22 8PM
Lexington WDKY Friday-10/22 8PM
Madison WMSN Friday-10/22 7PM
Milwaukee WVTV Friday-10/22 7PM
Minneapolis KMWB Friday-10/22 7PM
Nashville WZTV Friday 10/22 7PM
Norfolk WTVZ Friday 10/22 8PM
Oklahoma City KOKH Friday 10/22 7PM
Paducah KBSI Friday 10/22 7PM
Pensacola/Mobile WEAR Friday 10/22 7PM
Peoria WYZZ Friday 10/22 7PM
Pittsburgh WPGH Friday-10/22 8PM
Portland WGME Friday 10/22 8PM
Raleigh WLFL Friday 10/22 8PM
Richmond WRLH Friday-10/22 8PM
Rochester WUHF Friday 10/22 8PM
Sacramento KOVR Friday 10/22 7PM
St. Louis KDNL Friday 10/22 7PM
San Antonio KABB Friday 10/22 7PM
Springfield, MA WGGB Friday 10/22 8PM
Springfield, IL WICS Friday 10/22 7PM
Syracuse WSYT Friday 10/22 8PM
Tallahassee WTWC Friday 10/22 8PM
Tampa WTTA Friday 10/22 8PM
Tri Cities WEMT Friday 10/22 8PM

Can you guess which night baseball has off? Yep. 10/22.


http://sbgweb2.sbgnet.com/press/release_20041019_87.shtml

[symbolman]

60. The Fat Lady ain't sung yet.. keep hammering.. here' some help

PLEASE Get my flash attack ad out to as many people as possible - it stresses the fact that THEY Would not allow the Nightline program to HONOR the fallen troops -- THIS IS AS IMPORTANT as spamming advertisers..

THIS is what will piss off even freepers.. Regular Americans will be livid if they know Sinclair WON'T support the troops, and DIDN'T BEFORE!

All the links are clickable easy to use and helpful, the more people that get it the more damage we can do to those bastards!

Turn up your speakers and get the word out with MEDIA as well..

Don't forget to WRITE to the Advertisers that have folded and THANK THEM -- when we did our Limbaugh Boycott we found that that is what helps them feel like they did the right thing..

Here's "Our Media is Broken"

http://web.takebackthemedia.com/geeklog/public_html/staticpages/index.php?page=20041013042650709



Skinner was kind enough to post this flash on the main page but it sort of got chopped due to the debates and DU having to rig for heavy traffic..

[Carolab]

61. Gov Dean speaks out about Sinclair

Take Our Airwaves Back

By Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.
This is one in a series of weekly syndicated columns written by Governor Howard Dean.

Last week, communications giant Sinclair Broadcasting announced that they would require all 62 of their television affiliates to pre-empt regularly scheduled programs and air a film that casts Sen. John Kerry in a very unfavorable and false light. Many of these stations, affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC and UPN, are in battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. This essentially becomes free advertising for the Bush-Cheney campaign in some very important and influential states during this election season.

This is not the first time Sinclair Broadcasting stations were required to do something that advanced the right-wing agenda. Last spring, Sinclair refused to allow any of its ABC affiliates to carry a Nightline episode that honored soldiers who had been killed in Iraq. The episode was a way to memorialize and remember the soldiers that gave their lives fighting for our country. But at the time, the executives at Sinclair Broadcasting unilaterally decided that the program "appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq".

This election cycle, executives of Sinclair Broadcasting have contributed tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions, 97% of which have gone to Republican candidates. Their vice president for corporate relations and their spokesperson, Mark Hyman, is also a conservative commentator for Sinclair Broadcasting. Every day a one-two minute report by Hyman is distributed to stations that promotes the agenda of the Republican Party.

Incidents like this are not good for America. Today the Democratic candidate for president is victimized. In the future, it may be a Republican.

Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps recently said, "This is an abuse of the public trust. And it is proof positive of media consolidation run amok when one owner can use the public airwaves to blanket the country with its political ideology—whether liberal or conservative...Sinclair and the FCC are taking us down a dangerous road."

Kowtowing to large corporations, like Sinclair Broadcasting, is President Bush’s specialty. And, behavior like this will only continue to grow by other media conglomerates if President Bush is re-elected. He is clearly more interested in doing the bidding of big corporations than he is in jobs and health care for ordinary Americans.

The media needs to be re-regulated and corporate ownership of media outlets needs to be limited in favor of independent and local family ownerships. But, we can make a difference today. If you live in a city with a Sinclair Broadcasting station, I encourage you to consider calling companies that advertise on that station. This is already working in some cities, like Madison, Wisc.—a restaurant that was advertising on the local Sinclair Broadcasting station received numerous complaints and decided to pull their advertising.

Since the public owns the airways, Sinclair Broadcasting and other big corporations ought to be required to act in a way which supports democracy, not attacks it. Sinclair Broadcasting has violated the fundamental responsibilities they are accountable for in a democratic society. If the president will not do his job to rein in corporate power, we will have to stand up for American democracy ourselves.


http://www.democracyforamerica.com/features/2004/10/18/take_our_airwaves_back.php

[Carolab]

63. Karl Schwartz's special report on Sinclair

Special Report

Sinclair is more than broadcasting
Sinclair's connections explains the Kerry hit piece it wanted to broadcast

By Karl W. B. Schwarz
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Download a .pdf file for printing.
Adobe Acrobat Reader required.
Click here to download a free copy.

October 20, 2004—Many Americans do not know that before his days of crime at Enron, Andy Fastow was intimately involved in another "American Energy and Finance Scam" named Penn Central and that sleazy deal wound up toppling Continental Illinois Bank at a taxpayer costs of billions.

Andy Fastow was an employee at Continental Illinois Bank and learned his "Special Purpose Entity (SPE)" skills from Michael Milken and others and was hired by Enron because he did so well at hiding stuff at Continental Illinois. In short, he was a trained and "uncaught" criminal already that was recruited to Enron to do the same.

Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw (Richard Ben Veniste's law firm and him on the 9-11 Commission) prides itself in offshore SPEs to circumvent US law (ask Cheney), hide assets, offshore games, SPEs, etc., and was the major law firm representing Enron. Probably are still representing Cayman Islands based Prisma Energy International. Many of those Fastow SPEs were Cayman Islands entities.

Most Americans do not know that Continental Illinois was based in Chicago, and so are the law firms of Mayer Brown, Rowe & Maw (Richard Ben Veniste, 9-11 Commission) and Winston Strawn (former Illinois Republican Governor James Thompson, also 9-11 Commission member).

If you look under Prisma Energy International—"Corporate Governance"—there are many former Enron International and Halliburton people involved in the post-bankruptcy Enron. This is an excellent example of the "hired help" stealing the company from its owners (shareholders and vested employees).

The reason that I point this out is that I learned many years ago to dig deeper than one inch to effect "due diligence" and know the facts.

We have a situation where Sinclair Broadcasting had made it clear they intended to run a very negative film documentary about John Kerry, titled Stolen Honor. Now, that could be partisanship, or maybe there is a "highly-motivated party" here in Sinclair as to why they are taking such actions. They have come before this nation without clean hands and I will show you why that is so.

Dig deep folks and always–follow the money.

"FOLSOM, Calif., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ﾗJadoo Power Systems, Inc (Jadoo), a leading provider of portable power products, was awarded a contract to develop power systems for the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The program's goal is to reduce the weight of energy storage carried in the field by the Special Forces . . ."

While the award of a government contract is not always newsworthy, a closer look reveals this:

"Jadoo Power Systems, Inc. (Jadoo) is a market-focused company that has developed next-generation portable energy storage and power generation products. Jadoo is a privately-held company with individual and organizational investors."

The two investors listed are:

1. Sinclair Ventures: a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. and

2. Contango Capital Management: formed to bring capital to innovative entrepreneurs who are working hard to answer the energy challenges facing our world today and in the near future.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/102004Schwarz/102004schwarz.html

[Carolab]

64. Jason Leopold weighs in on Sinclair's history

Media

Sinclair Broadcasting's long history of journalistic and corporate deception

By Jason Leopold
Online Journal Assistant Editor

Download a .pdf file for printing.
Adobe Acrobat Reader required.
Click here to download a free copy.

October 20, 2004—Sinclair Broadcasting Group has tried to influence the outcome of elections long before the media company became a lightning rod for criticism due to its decision to air a controversial documentary, election critical of Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry's activities during the Vietnam War, 10 days before the Nov. 2 election.

Two years ago, Duncan Smith, vice president of Sinclair, gave then Maryland GOP gubernatorial candidate Robert Ehrlich extensive use of a luxury helicopter Smith owned and billed Ehrlich's campaign—at a discounted rate of $1,000 an hour—only after an inquiry by the Baltimore Sun. Smith's company, Whirlwind Aviation, Inc., rents out the aircraft for $2,500 an hour. "Ehrlich used the helicopter at least six times during and after the gubernatorial campaign," according to a Nov. 20, 2002, Baltimore Sun story. Smith said at the time that the remaining fee of more than $13,750 would be picked up by Whirlwind and listed by the company as an "in-kind" contribution to Ehrlich's campaign.


http://www.onlinejournal.com/Media/102004Leopold/102004leopold.html

[Dr Fate]

65. They are still showing most of it? What about equal time?

A dishonest ploy.

If they hasd civic pride, they would allow time for BOTH candidates...

[GOTV]

66. I don't understand...

... why so many people view this as a victory. They can cut the film so that it's even more vicious. They may have been planning this all along.

The media is reporting this as if Sinclair is backing down. The stock may rebound, Sinclair broadcasts an even uglier representation of the film, Kerry's chances are hurt and Sinclair wins.

The only acceptable outcomes, in my opinion are:

* No showing at all
* Equal time for Kerry

And it's almost too late for the first one since the first showing of the propaganda broadcasts tonight.

[OhioChick]

67. It's Not Too Late......

Let's keep the pressure on, people!

:kick:

[Wind Dancer]

69. What a misleading headliner!

We must continue to write, call and boycott, do not give into these crooks. We are the only ones that will change this corporate owned RW country, stop buying their products and sell any mutual funds or stock. I have a long list of businesses/products that will not get my money ever again.

We take on the mainstream media next, I want my country back.

[mom cat]

70. We do not have any truce yet. And if what they air is not fair and

balanced,then we have to declare a huge boycott.

[Q]

71. Very Misleading Title to this article...

...meant to convince people to let down their guard. They never HAD more than forty minutes worth of material...just bits and pieces of propaganda they scrounged up in archives.

- And when you look at the material...they're still pushing lies about those who protested and Kerry's 'involvement' with Fonda.

[drfemoe]

72. This means NOTHING

they are in the tank! What kind of foo would risk all on gw?
ugh.. I hate to think about it.

http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=l&board=7083976&tid=sbgi&sid=7083976&mid=8578

While they are at it, the owners dump their stock >

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=SBGI

[obreaslan]

73. Take of the Flight-Suit, and put away the Mission Accomplished banner...

It ain't over yet.

Keep up the pressure. They are down, but they have not submitted yet.

[Kierkegaard]

74. Is that BULLSHIT I smell?

Misunderstanding my ass.

[Evergreen Emerald]

75. dressing

What they have done is brilliant. Like "clear skies" and "no child left behind" they are disguising the reality of what they will air.

Instead of airing the obviously biased unsubstantiated propoganda they will do a story on how biased stories effect the election. They are using their journalism departments to create a faux news story.

That way, they don't have to give equal time--because they are only airing the biased piece in the context of the news show--like MSNBC/CNN aired the swift-boat ads. That is why the Sinclair journalist was upset. Because he said if the journalists partake in this lie they will loose all credibility as a journalist. And he lost his job for it.

Keep up the fight.

[Catfight]

76. Sinclair using the Enron, Halliburton unethical approach. Pull your stock

[robbedvoter]

77. The slimefest being replaced with slime&whine. How's that better?

[demokatgurrl]

78. Keep the pressure on!!

Whatever we've been doing we should keep on. Don't let the lying scumbag bastards sleaze their way out.

[dryan]

79. My 2 cents....

this story got a lot of bad PR for Sinclair - that is a win! I even received an email from a PR firm that said that Sinclair may never recover from this. It is amazing to me that when CBS wanted to show the docudrama about the Reagans the GOP pressured them to not show the movie, but when the shoe is on the other foot, they complain about "tactics". Go figure!

[JPace]

80. I am uncomfortable with the idea of shutting down

a film in a private setting even if the film
is a piece of lying garbage. I am proud of
this thread that shows the integrity of so
many on the left who support freedom of
speech even when it "hurts". Makes me know
once again that I am in the right Party.

[chimpy the poopthrower]

83. Um, I think you've posted in the wrong thread.

Seriously. There was a thread that got locked and linked to this one as a dupe, but it really wasn't the same story at all. Anyway, that other story was BS so I'm glad it's locked even if for the wrong reason.

Is that confusing enough for y'all? :)

[drfemoe]

84. Freedom of Speech

is a cherished freedom. However, there are Laws governing the election process.

See the difference?

[Enraged_Ape]

85. Translation: "We're still airing a slur; just not that particular one."

Poor babies. They are desperate now that their stock is sinking faster than the Bismarck. But I trust that the smarter, higher-volume investors are hip to what they're really doing.

[ladyrae416]

88. Re: Anti-Kerry film won't be aired

They are showing it TONIGHT at 9:00 here in St. Paul. Makes me sick.
It is going to be on for an hour so I guess they cut 30 minutes off.
Still makes me sick!

[cal04]

89. Sinclair's connections explains the Kerry hit piece it wanted to broadcast

We have a situation where Sinclair Broadcasting had made it clear they intended to run a very negative film documentary about John Kerry, titled Stolen Honor. Now, that could be partisanship, or maybe there is a "highly-motivated party" here in Sinclair as to why they are taking such actions. They have come before this nation without clean hands and I will show you why that is so.

Dig deep folks and always–follow the money.

"FOLSOM, Calif., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ﾗJadoo Power Systems, Inc (Jadoo), a leading provider of portable power products, was awarded a contract to develop power systems for the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The program's goal is to reduce the weight of energy storage carried in the field by the Special Forces . . ."

While the award of a government contract is not always newsworthy, a closer look reveals this:

"Jadoo Power Systems, Inc. (Jadoo) is a market-focused company that has developed next-generation portable energy storage and power generation products. Jadoo is a privately-held company with individual and organizational investors."

The two investors listed are:

1. Sinclair Ventures: a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. and

2. Contango Capital Management: formed to bring capital to innovative entrepreneurs who are working hard to answer the energy challenges facing our world today and in the near future.

We know who Sinclair is (Stolen Honor), but check out where some Enron and Harvard Business School people now work: Contango Capital Partners—look at John Berger's "resume"

John Berger
Managing Partner
Contango Capital Partners


Mr. Berger is a founding partner of the General Partner and its Managing Partner. Mr. Berger has over eight years of experience in the energy industry, during which he managed energy trading books for Enron Corporation and initiated development of the new Enron Premium Power Division. As a Manager, he made the previously unprofitable southeast short term trading operation for the Enron East Power Trading Division profitable by approximately $30 million over a two year period. Under his management, the southeast short term trading operation successfully administered the largest long-term customer deal in the industry, and increased the average daily volume in the southeast trading hub by ten times the former volume. Mr. Berger also managed the Enron Hourly Trading Desk, and operated a utility system in the southeastern United States. At Enron Energy Services he led and developed Enron's corporate strategy for new energy technologies and energy reliability financial products. In addition, Mr. Berger spearheaded development, investment, and partnership opportunities in fuel cell technologies.

Hmm, what a catchy name for a venture capital fund, "Con-tango."

That Berger division of Enron is the exact one that was plundering the State of California. Both Enron and El Paso executives have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and Mr. Berger gets to go out and do more deals. Criminal charges are also pending against Dynegy in California too.

Guess what, Enron, Dynegy, and El Paso are all involved in Pakistan and the Caspian Basin and would all benefit from the forced removal of the Taliban and Bridas Corporation.

Of course, he worked under Thomas White, vice chairman of that Enron division that was promoted by Bush to Secretary of the Army during the period of time that BUSH & Co were planning and practicing the assault on Afghanistan and BRIDAS CORPORATION and take over that Afghanistan pipeline.

Criminal charges were pending, and now confirmed with an Enron executive pleading guilty in California and an El Paso executive, too.
What an easy way to co-opt someone into doing evil. Criminal charges- that up and vanish against all but an unlucky fall guy
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/102004Schwarz/102004schwarz.html

[southlandshari]

90. Holy Moly!

Has this been posted elsewhere? Is anyone else as surprised (NOT) and yet still outraged (DEFINITELY) at this information on direct connections between Sinclair, Enron and assorted other a#$^holes?

[Carolab]

93. Yeah

I posted it up above but nobody paid any attention to it.

Has anyone thought beyond this--that now there are connections between the Jarmin "social security scam" that's being investigated and Sherwood who did the hit piece on Kerry for Sinclair?

So there are Moonie-Sinclair-Enron connections, and those connections lead back to the department of defense.

[Tight_rope]

92. Fuck....GREAT catch man....This is some serious shit!

[thebaghwan]

91. Legally, this doesn't mean shit! They edited to avoid a libel suit,that's

all. They probably hust edited out the stuff regarding the guy who is now a college professor. He had threatened them with a libel suit.

[ralps]

94. here is an article I got using Sherlock on my Mac. it's from LYCOS

Shareholders Push Sinclair to Amend Plans

20 October 2004, 1:21pm ET
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ Associated Press Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Threatened with a shareholder revolt, Sinclair Broadcast said it will not air in its entirety a documentary critical of John Kerry's anti-war activities, but will instead incorporate parts of the 42-minute film into a news special.

Parts of the film "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" will be shown during a program examining the use of documentaries to influence elections, Sinclair said Tuesday. The company said media reports that the entire film was be shown were "inaccurate."

The announcement came hours after shareholders challenged Sinclair's plans to air the film, saying the controversial broadcast may hurt their investment. The decision had also prompted several advertisers to ask Sinclair not to run their commercials in or around the program.

Shares of Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., the owner of 62 television stations that reach a quarter of U.S. households, rebounded sharply after the announcement, up more than 17 percent on the NASDAQ stock exchange in early trading Wednesday.

"A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media" will examine the "role of the media in filtering the information contained in these documentaries, allegations of media bias by media organizations that ignore or filter legitimate news and the attempts by candidates and other organizations to influence media coverage," the company said in a statement.

It will air Friday on 40 of the company's stations, including many in key swing states for the presidential election. A company spokesman had previously said the company planned to air some or all of the film.

last trade 7.05 change 0.79(12.62%) day range 6.46- 7.36 volume 2,549,426

[moondust]

95. Inappropriate to air ANY of it

a matter of days before an election. It may or may not be appropriate to air it on public airwaves AFTER an election. The mere fact that they are hellbent on broadcasting it days before a vote is a dead giveaway. I vote to revoke their broadcasting license.

[Divine Discontent]

98. oh goodness!

firstly, good for all americans that we got their attention ($$$), now we must fight, has the DU link that sends out the emails to all the associated parties been updated with something like, "we don't want any of these lies airing at all, as Sinclair will just take out the most insulting 30 minutes of the made-for-Bush re-election commercial and show them instead of the complete film"

I hope someone is working on this, keep us posted!

God bless

***less than 2 weeks til regime change!!!!!***

[depakid]

97. I'm not about to let up on Sinclair

they've made their bed, and now they get to lie in it. Even showing any of this "film" is a breach of the public interest standard.