anti-Kerry bias?

[sobeton]

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com

Broadcasting their

anti-Kerry bias

Tuesday, October 12th, 2004

For the first time in our history, a major television company is openly trying to tip a presidential election.

No, not CBS.

Sure, that "60 Minutes" segment on President Bush and his National Guard record was sloppy and partisan reporting. But Dan Rather and CBS News President Andy Heyward at least pay lip service to some basic standards of journalism. They eventually admitted their mistake.

Not so with David Deniston Smith, CEO of Sinclair Broadcasting, or Mark Hyman, the company's vice president for corporate relations.

Sinclair owns or manages 62 television stations. That's more than CBS or any other media company in the nation. But since Sinclair's stations are mostly affiliates of the Fox, WB, NBC, ABC or CBS networks, the company itself is barely known outside media circles.

That is all about to change.

This week, Sinclair executives announced that before the Nov. 2 election, all its stations will preempt regular prime-time network programs to broadcast a documentary film highly critical of Sen. John Kerry's efforts against the Vietnam War 30 years ago.

Among those interviewed in the film, which Sinclair will show commercial-free, are two former Vietnam POWs who appeared prominently in earlier political advertisements by the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

"This is an issue that is certainly topical," Hyman told The Los Angeles Times.

What Hyman meant to say is: Twenty-one of our stations are in battleground states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and we are determined that Bush will win.

If you have any doubt, you should know that between 1996 and mid-2004, Sinclair and its executives doled out $2.3 million in political contributions - 89% of it to Republicans, according to the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity.

You also should know that when he's not handling press relations, Hyman doubles as Sinclair's version of the rabid right-wing screecher.

In a segment called "The Point," which is broadcast on all Sinclair's local news shows, Hyman refers to peace activists as "wack-jobs" and the "loony left" and to the so-called liberal media as the "Axis of Drivel."

In other words, Smith's Sinclair makes Rupert Murdoch's Fox News look like Barney and Friends.

On May 1, Sinclair opted for its own version of a preemptive strike, when it knocked ABC's "Nightline" off the air at eight ABC affiliates the company owns.

That was the night Ted Koppel chose to read the names of all the American soldiers killed in Iraq.

Sinclair CEO Smith accused Koppel and ABC of being "motivated by a political agenda."

When it comes to balanced news coverage, the Sinclair company could teach "Nightline" a few tricks. Sinclair pioneered low-budget "local" news shows that are produced in a central newsroom, then broadcast to a half-dozen different stations hundreds of miles apart.

Smith's idea of improving news is buying every station in town, then firing all the reporters the company can.

Under Bush and his FCC Chairman Michael Powell, Sinclair and the other big media companies dream of getting even bigger and more powerful. But to realize those dreams, they need four more years for Bush.

Tomorrow night is the last presidential debate. Bob Schieffer of CBS, one of the few real reporters left on television, will be in charge.

Will Schieffer dare ask Bush and Kerry about an issue that has spread like wildfire across our nation the past two years - even without much press coverage?

Will he ask both candidates what government policy should be when it comes to the awesome power of big media companies like Sinclair and Schieffer's own Viacom-owned CBS?

As Sinclair's Hyman put it, that's "certainly topical."

[bigpoppanils]

goddamn liberal media

no wait.....

[missionary]

This is disgusting nd I hope Sinclair Broadcasting loses millions in future advertising revenue from clients who are appalled by this shit.

[obby]

Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004 9:11 p.m. EDT

Michael Moore, Network Plans Election Eve TV 'Fahrenheit' Showing

Michael Moore and his liberal backers are working on a deal to have his Bush-bashing conspiracy movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" piped into millions of households just days before the election.

Citing "TV sources," the Hollywood newspaper Variety said that In Demand, the largest pay-per-view distributor in the U.S., was planning to air "Fahrenheit" at 8 p.m. on election eve - just hours before the polls open all across America.

But there may be a hitch. Reports the New York Post's Page Six, Columbia TriStar, which released the "Fahrenheit" DVD last week, has the right to block any small-screen broadcast while the DVD is in distribution.

Still, Moore's camp is apparently undeterred by any legal technicalities.

A source close to Moore and Miramax's Harvey and Bob Weinstein - who bankrolled the anti-Bush flick - told the Post they plan to have the movie hit TV before the first ballot is cast.

"It's true. All this is being talked about," the source said, noting that Moore himself said last month that he hoped "Fahrenheit" would hit the small screen in time to impact the election.

Moore even yanked his conspiracy masterpiece out of contention for the Oscars so it could be shown on TV.

It turns out, however, that he may have some competition.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced plans to air the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," which details John Kerry's anti-war protests and the effect they had on U.S. POWs, who say their North Vietnamese captors turned his words against them.

"Honor" is set to air before Moore's film, sometime between Oct. 21 and Oct. 24, depending on the city, the Los Angeles Times said Saturday.

The upstart TV network reaches viewers in 62 markets around the country, including Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Sacramento - along with a number of swing states.

The Times said Sinclair is ordering its stations to pre-empt local programing to air the Kerry documentary, a move that drew criticism from the Kerry campaign.

[bigpoppanils]

Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004 9:11 p.m. EDT

Michael Moore, Network Plans Election Eve TV 'Fahrenheit' Showing

Michael Moore and his liberal backers are working on a deal to have his Bush-bashing conspiracy movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" piped into millions of households just days before the election.

Citing "TV sources," the Hollywood newspaper Variety said that In Demand, the largest pay-per-view distributor in the U.S., was planning to air "Fahrenheit" at 8 p.m. on election eve - just hours before the polls open all across America.

But there may be a hitch. Reports the New York Post's Page Six, Columbia TriStar, which released the "Fahrenheit" DVD last week, has the right to block any small-screen broadcast while the DVD is in distribution.

Still, Moore's camp is apparently undeterred by any legal technicalities.

A source close to Moore and Miramax's Harvey and Bob Weinstein - who bankrolled the anti-Bush flick - told the Post they plan to have the movie hit TV before the first ballot is cast.

"It's true. All this is being talked about," the source said, noting that Moore himself said last month that he hoped "Fahrenheit" would hit the small screen in time to impact the election.

Moore even yanked his conspiracy masterpiece out of contention for the Oscars so it could be shown on TV.

It turns out, however, that he may have some competition.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced plans to air the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," which details John Kerry's anti-war protests and the effect they had on U.S. POWs, who say their North Vietnamese captors turned his words against them.

"Honor" is set to air before Moore's film, sometime between Oct. 21 and Oct. 24, depending on the city, the Los Angeles Times said Saturday.

The upstart TV network reaches viewers in 62 markets around the country, including Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Sacramento - along with a number of swing states.

The Times said Sinclair is ordering its stations to pre-empt local programing to air the Kerry documentary, a move that drew criticism from the Kerry campaign.

there is a huge difference between PAY PER VIEW and PUBLIC TELEVISION.

[missionary]

there is a huge difference between PAY PER VIEW and PUBLIC TELEVISION.

I doubt he's able to realize that.

[italia23]

goddamn liberal media

no wait.....

lol, let me first say that as a Bush-supporter, I disapprove of this move by Sinclair Broadcasting. I don't think that this is very fair, the same as I felt for Farenheit 9/11.

But the media definitely has a liberal slant. I'll give you Fox News and MSNBC, but I'll take the non-cable networks, Hollywood, MTV Choose or Lose, all music outside of Country, Air America Radio, and almost all print media.

Sobeton's own citation of an article written by Juan Gonzalez is an example of this. This is a man who took the time to write a page 2 article bashing Ronald Reagan, just days after his death.

[jtk4]

listen if you still have not made upi your mind that late in the election and either of the stupid movies sway your vote then your right to vote should be revoked.

[obby]

listen if you still have not made upi your mind that late in the election and either of the stupid movies sway your vote then your right to vote should be revoked.

Although we may disagree with each other on some issues. I find you to be funny.

[italia23]

listen if you still have not made upi your mind that late in the election and either of the stupid movies sway your vote then your right to vote should be revoked.

Agreed. But there are still undecideds out there, although I have never met any, who will take everything into account when deciding on a candidate. You can say to yourself "It's a stupid movie, it doesn't mean anything.", but it could unknowingly effect your decision. Which is why I hate the fact that it is impossible to find an unbiased source of information, aside from the 9/11 Commission Report.

[punjabpatel]

The Daily News should be the last outlet to talk about bias.

[sobe2003]

listen if you still have not made upi your mind that late in the election and either of the stupid movies sway your vote then your right to vote should be revoked.

Actually the airing of Farenheit the day before the election could not be better . . . it will be airing on free television - not pay-per-view . . .

[jtk4]

I understand but talk about the fucked up state of our nation if the night before the election a documentry, that has at best had a shadow of doubt surrounding it, can sway voters.