Stolen Honor or Stolen Access??
If you happen to live in a television market with a tv station owned by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, sometime later this month you will have an opportunity to view a documentary film titled "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal". Question is, should that film be beamed into your home on the public airwaves in the weeks before an election?
In a story in today's Los Angeles Times, the Sinclair Broadcasting Group stands accused of planning to force its 62 stations, 14 of which are in key swing states, to broadcast this documentary film which is a scathing attack on Senator John Kerry's anti-war activism following the end of his service in Viet Nam. Until this upcoming broadcast, the documentary, produced by Pulitzer and Peabody award winning journalist Carlton Sherwood was only available via internet download or on DVD.
I haven't seen this film. I don't know if this is truly a documentary, unlike the docutainment films of Michael Moore, and so I cannot comment on the factual content of "Stolen Honor". But that isn't important, the issue here is that what Sinclair Broadcasting is doing is a violation of its responsibility as a trustee of the public airwaves. The very television frequencies that it has been issued licenses to broadcast over belong to the people of this nation and not the executives of Sinclair and their politican agenda.
The Times article says that Sinclair claims that they will classify the broadcast as "news" which would relieve them of their responsiblities under the infamous Equal Time Doctrine. In case you've forgotten about that little rule, it's the reason we didn't get to see any of Der Gubinator Scharzenegger's movies on television during the recall election campaign here in California. Not that I minded the pre-empting of yet another airing of "Terminator", but when they put "Hudson Hawk" on in its place, for a moment I almost wished that Der Gubinator wasn't running in the recall. However, I digress.
Sinclair is wronging the public in showing this documentary and classifying it as news. It is attempting to do the same thing that Michael Moore is doing in showing his "Farenheit 9/11" film anywhere and everywhere that someone will allow him to show it. The difference is that Moore isn't showing his film on the public airways. Now it is true that he is attempting to negotiate a pay-per-view cable deal for his movie to be shown just before the November election, but that still isn't the same thing. Cable is not the public airwaves. Plus if people are lemming-like enough to want to put even more money in Moore's pockets, why should I speak out to stop them. Even if he isn't totally factual, he is entertaining.
There is a simple, easy answer to Sinclair Broadcasting's attempt to hijack the public airwaves for their own political purposes. Protest. If you agree that this is wrong, take a moment to sit down and write a letter. Then email it to the link below (that's the email address for the FCC Chairman, Michael Powell).
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/powell/mkp_email.html
If you want to complain to Sinclair directly, their President and CEO is named David D. Smith. Contact information for him follows.
Corporate HeadquartersSinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
10706 Beaver Dam Road
Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030
410-568-1500 (Main Telephone)
410-568-1533 (Main Fax)
If "Stolen Honor" is aired by Sinclair, someone should file a protest against the renewal of Sinclair's licenses for broadcast, every time they come up for renewal. Good thing for them I don't live in a market they serve, or that would be one license down the drain.
In a story in today's Los Angeles Times, the Sinclair Broadcasting Group stands accused of planning to force its 62 stations, 14 of which are in key swing states, to broadcast this documentary film which is a scathing attack on Senator John Kerry's anti-war activism following the end of his service in Viet Nam. Until this upcoming broadcast, the documentary, produced by Pulitzer and Peabody award winning journalist Carlton Sherwood was only available via internet download or on DVD.
I haven't seen this film. I don't know if this is truly a documentary, unlike the docutainment films of Michael Moore, and so I cannot comment on the factual content of "Stolen Honor". But that isn't important, the issue here is that what Sinclair Broadcasting is doing is a violation of its responsibility as a trustee of the public airwaves. The very television frequencies that it has been issued licenses to broadcast over belong to the people of this nation and not the executives of Sinclair and their politican agenda.
The Times article says that Sinclair claims that they will classify the broadcast as "news" which would relieve them of their responsiblities under the infamous Equal Time Doctrine. In case you've forgotten about that little rule, it's the reason we didn't get to see any of Der Gubinator Scharzenegger's movies on television during the recall election campaign here in California. Not that I minded the pre-empting of yet another airing of "Terminator", but when they put "Hudson Hawk" on in its place, for a moment I almost wished that Der Gubinator wasn't running in the recall. However, I digress.
Sinclair is wronging the public in showing this documentary and classifying it as news. It is attempting to do the same thing that Michael Moore is doing in showing his "Farenheit 9/11" film anywhere and everywhere that someone will allow him to show it. The difference is that Moore isn't showing his film on the public airways. Now it is true that he is attempting to negotiate a pay-per-view cable deal for his movie to be shown just before the November election, but that still isn't the same thing. Cable is not the public airwaves. Plus if people are lemming-like enough to want to put even more money in Moore's pockets, why should I speak out to stop them. Even if he isn't totally factual, he is entertaining.
There is a simple, easy answer to Sinclair Broadcasting's attempt to hijack the public airwaves for their own political purposes. Protest. If you agree that this is wrong, take a moment to sit down and write a letter. Then email it to the link below (that's the email address for the FCC Chairman, Michael Powell).
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/powell/mkp_email.html
If you want to complain to Sinclair directly, their President and CEO is named David D. Smith. Contact information for him follows.
Corporate HeadquartersSinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
10706 Beaver Dam Road
Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030
410-568-1500 (Main Telephone)
410-568-1533 (Main Fax)
If "Stolen Honor" is aired by Sinclair, someone should file a protest against the renewal of Sinclair's licenses for broadcast, every time they come up for renewal. Good thing for them I don't live in a market they serve, or that would be one license down the drain.
posted by me at 9:05 AM
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