Protest Sinclair Broadcasting and Pay per View

This is a copy of what I sent to sinclair broadcast group: To whom it may concern,
I am a vietnam combat veteran,Actually,I'm a 100% disabled
vietnam combat veteran.I spent 21 months flying combat missions.
Who the hell do you think you are to talk about stolen honor?
Many vietnam combat vets were against the war,as I was.I find
this type of "hype" over Sen.Kerry appalling.If you want to
broadcast something,do a special on the bullshit service bush
did during the war.I dare you to do that cowards.Why not do a
special on the 5 deferments cheney used to weasel out of
service?
How about yourselves?? What the hell have you ever done for our
country? Have you ever served? If you have,were you ever in
combat? Do you still live with the nightmares of combat? The
pain from combat? I don't care what it takes,but I'll boycott
every damned sponser you have for the rest of my life so help me
god.You people make me sick.
George A.Branigan

=====
G.A.Branigan....Charliehorse 962.....RVN-70/71/72
A Trp.7/17th ACR.1st.Avn.Bde.crewchief-lift
D Trp.3rd/5th.Cav.101st.Abn.Div.crewchief/scout/observer
DAV.-Lifer/101st.Abn.Div.Assn.-Lifer/VHCMA-Lifer
Biker Forever---Redwood High-Way Choppers.
Cave Junction,OR.

 

*applauds* that is very touching and i like yer fire..and I know someone such as yourself who has been there..should be the ones whos voices needs to be heard! They are biased and for Bush, that's why they are only showing and EDITING parts out that they want people to see, so people will think kerry has no honor and is lying and so they will vote for Bush..I mean come on..they don't even run the full speech Kerry said, they run it from where it sounds like he's saying it, not the beginning where Kerry says "THEY" said where he is talking about what other vietnam vets said...also, they are using one of the Swift Vets in the documentary, along with other outrageous lies..

 

Way to go Homebudz! Perhaps the following is a result??? Hard work does have it's rewards.

Updated: 10:07 PM EDT
Sinclair reverses plan on Kerry documentary
By Brooks Boliek, Reuters


WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - Faced with public criticism, stockholder unrest and the abrupt firing of its Washington bureau chief, the Sinclair Broadcast Group has changed its plan to air the anti-John Kerry film "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" on all of its TV stations just days before the election.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the company said it will instead air a news special titled "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media." The special will focus in part on the use of documentaries and other media to influence voting as well as on the content of the documentaries, according to the company.

Sinclair stations will not be airing the 42-minute documentary "Stolen Honor" in its entirety, the company said.

While the news special will discuss the allegations surrounding Sen. John Kerry's activities in the early '70s raised by a number of former POWs in "Stolen Honor," it will do so in the context of a broader discussion of the campaign and the media, according to the statement. The program will be hosted by Jeff Barnd, anchor of Fox 45's 10 p.m. news that airs on WBFF, Sinclair's flagship station in Baltimore. The company also said it will air the special on only one station in markets where Sinclair owns or programs more than one TV outlet.

"'A POW Story' is being produced with the highest journalistic standards and integrity," Sinclair news vp Joe DeFeo said. "We have not ceded and will not in the future cede control of our news reporting to any outside organization or political group. We are endeavoring, as we do with all of our news coverage, to present both sides of the issues covered in an equal and impartial manner."

The company said it left open an invitation to the Kerry campaign for the candidate or another staff member to participate in the show. The Kerry campaign has rejected the invitation.

"The experience of preparing to air this news special has been trying for many of those involved," Sinclair CEO David Smith said. "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. In addition, and more shockingly, we have received threats of retribution from a member of Sen. John Kerry's campaign and have seen attempts by leading members of Congress to influence the FCC to stop Sinclair from broadcasting this news special. Moreover, these coordinated attacks have occurred without regard to the facts since they predated the broadcast of our news special."

The "Stolen Honor" saga has given Sinclair a black eye as the Democratic National Committee, the Kerry campaign and slew of public interest groups have condemned the program and Sinclair's decision to air what they consider a thinly veiled attack ad just days before the election. The DNC asked the Federal Election Commission to decide if the program was an in-kind campaign contribution to the Bush campaign. Democratic lawmakers also asked the FCC to block the program, but they were turned down by commission chairman Michael Powell.

On Tuesday, some Sinclair Broadcast Group stockholders demanded that the company provide equal time to rebut the charges in the documentary or face an injunction.

In a letter delivered Tuesday to Smith and the company's board of directors, Wall Street firm Glickenhaus & Co. demanded that Sinclair "provide those with views opposed to the allegations in the film an equal opportunity to respond." The investment company, which has clients who hold 6,100 shares of Sinclair stock, threatened to seek an injunction to stop the company from airing the film unless it complied with the request.

The action was underwritten by the group Media Matters for America, which describes itself as a "Web-based, not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."

Sinclair's decision to change its approach is "a step in the right direction," MMFA president and CEO David Brock said, and one that likely avoided legal action on stockholders' part for the time being.

"We will be watching to see if Sinclair fulfills its stated pledge to air an impartial newscast in place of the anti-Kerry communication, and we trust that all sides of the issues addressed will be fairly and equally represented," Brock said. "I hope that the broadcast Sinclair is planning to air on Friday will meet the concerns of advocates for quality media and shareholders alike."

The group claims that the value of Sinclair's stock has fallen nearly 13% since the company decided to air the anti-Kerry documentary, wiping out $90 million in shareholder value.

The latest actions come a day after the company fired its Washington bureau chief Jon Leiberman after he told the Baltimore Sun that the show is "biased political propaganda, with clear intentions to sway this election."

The original documentary features former prisoners of war accusing Kerry, a decorated veteran who took up the anti-war cause upon returning from Vietnam, of prolonging the war and worsening their plight.

Leiberman said he was fired Monday by DeFeo and escorted out of the company's headquarters in Hunt Valley, Md.

"I was told I violated company policy by divulging information from a staff meeting" to the Sun, Leiberman told the Associated Press.

Leiberman said he told DeFeo he would not participate in preparing the program about the film and that he objected to it being labeled news rather than commentary.

"We have no further comment on the actions of a disgruntled employee or an ongoing personnel matter," Sinclair said in a statement. "Viewers can grade Leiberman's opinion versus the reality when the finished product is aired."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter



10/19/04 22:06 ET

 

yes but read this :/..Seems they are only trying to cover up and are gonna broadcaset a major part of the documentary..

• October 19, 2004 | 9:32 p.m. ET
Sinclair adjusts...but not really (David Shuster)

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. 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.

By the way, I've received hundreds of e-mails about Farenheit 9-11 and why I have not spoken out about the alleged "facts" in Michael Moore's film. For the record, this summer on Hardball, I did a lengthy report that was sharply critical of Farenheit 9-11. But that is besides the point. There is still a difference between showing a partisan film in privately owned movie theaters and showing a partisan film over the television airwaves. In case you've forgotten, the television airwaves are owned by the public (though they are given to "licensed" broadcasters.) The distinction here is crucial... I hope you can see it. And, I'm encouraged by so many of you who agree that this is not a "left versus right" issue.

As always, I welcome your comments/questions.

DShuster@msnbc.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6275475/#041019

 

Well at least they are losing some of their precious money. I actually got come emails back from the investors I wrote:

Thanks to the poster who gave me all the email addresses! I was suprised to get an actual response. Hopefully they are getting hell from a lot of people.

 

Sinclair fired its Washington DC bereau chief Monday over this issue.

http://www.bopnews.com/archives/002007.html

Excerpt:

A little over three hours ago Jonathan Leiberman, (formerly) chief of Sinclair Broadcasting's Washington news bureau, was fired. He was fired, officially, for violating company policy by speaking to the media — in this case a Baltimore newspaper reporter — without prior approval; and for giving away proprietary information — by relaying to the reporter some of what was said at a company meeting yesterday.

What Leiberman went public with is this: that he'd become increasingly uncomfortable with the idea that the one-hour Kerry "special" that Sinclair will be airing on all its stations (the anti-Kerry "documentary" forms about 2/3 of the show) was being billed as news. "Run it," he told the Sinclair honchos at the meeting, "as editorial or commentary. Not news. Calling it news is a violation of the public trust. It will erode our credibility as a legitimate news source."

 

So how 'bout Sinclair Ventures, Jadoo and military contracts? Now that they changed up the documentary they are still making cash off of the war. Mobile battery packs, through the wall radar stuff, police communications... all that. Creepy scary stuff man.

 

FUCK sinclair. It's twisted enough that their allowed to own more than 60 stations. Also I heard burger cut advertising with them so even though I wouldn't buy anything from Burger King I gotta give em credit for that.

 

It's twisted they own 60 stations? You know how many hundreds and hundreds of stations there are across the country, what about ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX.

 

There are 1678 TV stations in the U.S. The 62 that Sinclair owns account for about 3.7% of the stations. It's not insignificant, but not a very large percentage either. Many of Sinclair's stations are in the Midwest and battleground states where the electoral votes have a large effect.

If one considers Sinclair's portion insignificant, then one has to also ask why Sinclair is even bothering to pull such a stunt that hurts its PR so badly.

 

I think if you look at all of Sinclair's interests it's possible to extrapolate that t.v. isn't their only concern or even possibly that it's not their biggest cash flow. It just happens to be the layer that's most visible to the public.

Wow, yeah you're right. Let's boycott them too.