Sinclair critics to fight license renewal

http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/54206


Sinclair critics to fight license renewal

By Paul Clark and Melissa Williams, staff writersMay 1, 2004 10:44 p.m.

ASHEVILLE - Sinclair Broadcast Group's decision not to show a controversial "Nightline" program on WLOS/Channel 13 and its other stations means area critics will be taping WLOS news programs to catch what one organizer calls "Sinclair's heavy-handed censorship and propaganda practices."

Wally Bowen, executive director of the nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network, is asking supporters to videotape nightly news broadcasts to gather material it will use to argue against Sinclair's being able to renew its license to operate WLOS.

Sinclair's license expires Dec. 1. The Federal Communications Commission is accepting public comment on Sinclair's stewardship of the license.

Bowen said he and others had planned to videotape the station's news programming anyway.

But "Sinclair has given us a jump start" by its controversial decision not to air a "Nightline" program that showed photos of troops killed in Iraq. Sinclair said the program aimed to drum up anti-war sentiments.

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http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/54167

Demonstrators gather at WLOS to protest 'Nightline' decision

By Barbara Blake, Staff WriterMay 1, 2004 12:37 a.m.


ASHEVILLE - A somber crowd of nearly 100 gathered on the lawn of WLOS-TV's property in Biltmore Park late Friday night to protest the station's parent company's decision to black out a "Nightline'' broadcast in which the names of more than 700 war dead were read.

"If they were my children, I'd want you to know their names,'' read a sign carried by one older woman, signaling the anger generated by Sinclair Broadcast Group's decision to pre-empt the Nightline broadcast in Asheville and seven of its other markets.

Sinclair officials said Ted Koppel's report, in which the names of military personnel were read as their pictures appeared on the screen, amounted to anti-war propaganda.

Sinclair aired a special program in place of "Nightline." The program discussed the merits of the war and Sinclair's decision to pre-empt "Nightline."

"The nerve of Sinclair to say a program that's honoring our dead is political and negative - it's beyond me,'' said Jackie Simms, who carried a small sign that said, "Censorship is political.''

..more..

lets not drop the ball on Sinclair.
Others with local stations owned by Sinclair may want to take similar actions.

Sinclair's agenda goes far beyond the censorship of NIghtline. They are Republicans who are taking over the publicly owned television airwaves.


Sinclair controls about 60 TV stations, including eight ABC affiliates,
some in substantial population centers:

WSYX-- Columbus, Ohio
KDNL-- St. Louis, Mo.
WXLV-- Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, N.C.
WEAR-- Mobile, AL & Pensacola, Fla.
WLOS-- Asheville, N.C.
WCHS-- Charleston & Huntington, W.V.
WGGB-- Springfield, Mass.
WTXL-- Tallahassee, Fla.
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full list of television stations owned by Sinclair
WTTA - Tampa
KMWB - Minneapolis
WPGH and WCWB - Pittsburgh
KOVR - Sacramento
KDNL - St Louis
WBFF and WNUV - Baltimore
WTTV and WTTK - Indianapolis
WLFL and WRDC - Raleigh - Durham
WZTV and WUXP - Nashville
WCGV and WVTV - Milwaukee
WSTR - Cincinnati
KSMO - Kansas City
WTTE and WSYX - Columbus
WFBC and WLOS - Asheville
KABB and KRRT - San Antonio
WTTO, WABM and WDBB - Birmingham
WTVZ - Norfolk
WUTV - Buffalo
KOCB and KOKH - Oklahoma City
WXLV and WUPN - Greensboro
WKEF and WRGT - Dayton
KVWB and KFBT - Las Vegas
WCHS and WVAH - Charleston
WRLH - Richmond
WEAR and WFGX - Mobile
WSMH - Flint
WDKY - Lexington
KDSM - Des Moines
WSYT and WNYS - Syracuse
KBSI and WDKA - Paducah
WUHF - Rochester
WGME - Portland
WMSN - Madison
WEMT - Tri-Cities
WGGB - Springfield
WYZZ - Peoria
WTWC - Tallahassee
WMMP and WTAT - Charleston

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Broadcaster's Own 'Political Agenda' Plays Part in Nightline Snub

By Timothy Karr
MediaChannel.org
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/affalert187.shtml


<snip>
MediaChannel.org has learned that the political leanings of Sinclair executives also may have played a part in the company's decision to block the popular ABC news program. In 2004, 98 percent of Sinclair's political contributions have gone to GOP candidates.
<snip>

According to The Center for Responsive Politics, an organization devoted to tracking political contributions by individuals, PACs and corporations, Sinclair executives give overwhelmingly to Republican causes and candidates. Of the top twenty TV and Radio companies to make political contributions in 2004, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, is among the most conservative, giving 98 percent of its $65,434 in political contributions to GOP candidates.

By comparison, Clear Channel Communications, the notoriously conservative radio colossus run by President Bush's longtime Texas cronies Tom and Steve Hicks has given only 75 percent of its 2004 contributions to Republicans; Democratic candidates have received the remaining 25 percent of Clear Channel's political largesse.

MediaChannel has contacted Sinclair CEO and President David Smith for comment on the company's political track record. Smith has yet to reply. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Smith personally gave $2,000, the maximum individual contribution, to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.

<snip>
The broadcasting giant reported first quarter preliminary results for net broadcast revenues reached $158.3 million. The Q1 increase over last year -- about $4 million more than the company expected -- came in part from $1.3 million in additional political advertising revenues in key election states such as Ohio, Florida, West Virginia, Illinois and Maine, where Sinclair owns stations.
<snip>
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List of donations by Sinclair board and staff
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1498443&mesg_id=1498443&page=

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Sinclair Broadcasting, the ugly truth

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1504101

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1506638


Mark Hyman

:kick:

:bounce:

FIGHT AGAINST THEIR LICENSE RENEWAL.

And DU-ers said that this was stupid.Now here is a major organization advocating for this.

THEY ARE NOT RUNNING THEIR STATIONS IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND THESE ARE OUR AIRWAYS.

Individual letters are ESPECIALLY EFFECTIVE, because then the company can't say that it's just a "libral focus group" out to get them!!

Cite FACTS as you know them. Cite egregious acts by YOUR local station.Show the history of their contributions to 90% Republican. Show how individual candidates to whom they contributed voted on media issues to benefit the company.

Write your letter NOW and post it here.

it IS being done. ...here in Asheville anyway..

I'm proud of my community.

listen to our new progressive radio station on line!
www.wpvm.org

who finds this compelling?
down with Sinclair !!

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=63020#1

Sinclair's Cynical Agenda
(contains further lnks)

Tonight, ABC's "Nightline" will pay tribute to U.S. troops killed in Iraq by airing a 40 minute special – the names of the fallen will be read by anchor Ted Koppel as their photographs appear on screen. But Sinclair Broadcast Group – the country's largest owner of TV stations – will not allow its ABC affiliates to air the show. In a statement, Sinclair claims the special "appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq." While Sinclair claims it is pre-empting Nightline because it is an attempt to "influence public opinion," the record shows that Sinclair media has repeatedly leveraged its control over the airwaves to manipulate public opinion in favor of President Bush's right-wing agenda.

SINCLAIR REQUIRES JOURNALISTS TO READ PRO-BUSH STATEMENTS: In September 2001, Sinclair Broadcasting required its affiliates to air messages "conveying full support" for the Bush administration. At a Baltimore affiliate, WBFF "officials required news and sports anchors, even a weather forecaster, to read the messages, "which included statements such as " wants you to know that we stand 100% behind our President." Several WBFF staffers objected on the grounds that reading the statements would "erode their reputations as objective journalists" because it made them appear to be "endorsing specific government actions."

SINCLAIR REFUSES TO AIR AD HIGHLIGHTING 2003 BUSH ERROR: In July 2003, Sinclair Broadcasting refused to allow WMSN TV – its FOX affiliate in Madison, WI – to air a DNC advertisement that featured a clip of President Bush making the false claim "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa" in his 2003 State of the Union Address. Three other Madison stations, including ABC, NBC and CBS, readily agreed to air the ad. The Madison CBS affiliate, WISC, said the advertisement was "no worse than any other political ad."

SINCLAIR PRODUCES CENTRALIZED RIGHT-WING CONTENT FOR 'LOCAL STATIONS': In a controversial business practice, Sinclair Broadcasting has fired much of the staff for the local affiliates it owns, instead producing content for its local stations from a central facility outside Baltimore which it then airs on "local" news broadcasts. The centralized content features nightly commentary by Sinclair corporate communications chief Mark Hyman. Hyman regularly refers to the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys," the so-called liberal media as the "hate-America crowd," and progressives as "the lonely left" On one recent commentary, Hyman called members of Congress who voted against a recent resolution affirming the righteousness of the Iraq war "unpatriotic politicians who hate our military." You can see all of Hyman's commentaries this month HERE. (Read more from American Progress about the problems of media consolidation.)

SINCLAIR AIRS FAKE NEWS BROADCASTS PRODUCED BY BUSH ADMINISTRATION: In March, it was discovered that the Bush Administration was producing "television news stories, written and paid for by the government, which have the appearance of legitimate news segments delivered by independent reporters," and distributing them to local newscasts as a way of promoting administration policies – including its ill-conceived Medicare prescription drug law. On the broadcasts, a public relations professional named Karen Ryan pretended to be a reporter. Among the stations which aired the administration propaganda as news: WPGH in Pittsburgh "the Sinclair Broadcasting station that fired much of its news staff in favor of feeds from a centralized newsroom in Baltimore."

SINCLAIR EXECUTIVES MAJOR BUSH CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS: Sinclair executives have contributed more than $16,500 to President Bush since 2000. This year, Sinclair CEO David Smith gave President Bush the maximum $2000 contribution. Before soft money contributions became illegal, Sinclair Broadcasting gave more than $130,000 to the president's political allies but no money to his opponents.

And that lesson should be that NO broadcaster is allowed to be so slanted and biased.

I can see us being able to make an example of Sinclair. They really went over the edge when they censored ABC/Nightline.

Let's do this, let's get Sinclair's license revoked. Let's get them stopped.