emboldened Sinclair Broadcasting pushing forward its right-wing agenda

THE SINCLAIR PROPAGANDA MACHINE
Evan Derkacz, AlterNet

Owned by Bush-backers, an emboldened Sinclair Broadcasting
is pushing forward with its right-wing agenda. It's time to
push back.

http://alternetheadlines.c.topica.com/maacX8YabcwrMbnuoUEbaeQBp9/

Set aside "values" and voter fraud for a moment and just take a look at Sinclair Broadcasting Group. If the nation's largest owner of TV stations didn't actually help reelect George W. Bush it wasn't for lack of effort. Their message to America now: Our man won, deregulation will continue and we've only just begun... to expand.

First a recap, then a fresh glimpse inside Sinclair. Back in April, Sinclair ordered its ABC affiliates not to air an episode of Nightline during which host Ted Koppel planned to simply read the names of the fallen soldiers – around 700 at the time. When pressed to explain this unprecedented move, denounced sharply by Sen. John McCain (R-AR) among others, Sinclair's CEO, David Smith, responded: "ABC is disguising political statements as news content."

In early October, less than a month before "the most important election of our lives," Sinclair brazenly ordered its 62 TV stations (including several in the major swing states of Ohio and Florida) to preempt regular programming to air, just days before the election, a documentary attacking John Kerry.

Not only was the documentary, "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," created by a Bush family friend, but it was filled with demonstrable lies.

Yet Sinclair's VP, lobbyist and one of the nation's most high-profile conservative commentators, Mark Hyman, responded (reportedly with a straight face) : "This is a powerful story... The networks are acting like Holocaust deniers and pretending don't exist."

..more..

+++++++++++++
News Advisory:

-- Sinclair Broadcast Group Abuses Public Airwaves; Airs Nightly Conservative 'The Point' Without Counterpoint

-- Media Matters for America Leads Launch of www.SinclairAction.com

WHAT: Media Matters for America, supported by a group of public interest organizations will host a press teleconference to announce the launch of a nationwide campaign aimed at drawing attention to the conservative slant in Sinclair Broadcasting's nightly commentary titled "The Point." The vehicle for the initiative is a new website http://www.SinclairAction.com .

WHO:Supporters:
MoveOn.org
MediaChannel
Robert Greenwald, Director of Outfoxed
Free Press
Alternet
Campaign for America's Future
Working Assets

Call Participants:
David Brock, president and CEO, Media Matters for America
Robert Greenwald, Director of Outfoxed
Timothy Karr, Executive Director of MediaChannel.org and Media for Democracy

WHEN: 10:30 am (EST), Tuesday, Dec. 14
Conference call number: 877-405-8906, Conference Access Code: 2808516 #

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=40653

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Local NC citizens fight Sinclair!
www.SinclairWatch.net

station, KOVR in Sacramento, is being sold to Viacom. http://www.viacom.com/press.tin?ixPressRelease=80604167

I don't watch it much but occasionally I'd see the local news and then that horrible Mark Hyman commentary crap would come on and I'd change the channel. Word is that many at the station were not happy about Sinclair and its crap and are looking forward to being rid of them.

KOVR is in my area, and I absolutely hated seeing that asswipe following the news program (not that I watched very much to begin with). Thank God I won't have to seem at all now!

as the stations' licenses are up for renewal. File complaints. etc.

in Asheville NC:

www.sinclairwatch.net

That's great! :) :toast:

"right wing" will be reviled by most Americans. Just wait.

SINCLAIR ACTION

AlterNet joins Media Matters, Robert Greenwald, MoveOn,
MediaChannel and others in a campaign to "Protest Sinclair
Bias and Misuse of Public Airwaves."
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/20743/

Dear MoveOn member,
Before the election, we stopped Sinclair Broadcasting from airing an anti-Kerry hit piece. But Sinclair continues to interject partisan bias into local evening news reaching 1 in 4 homes.

Every night, Sinclair vice president Mark Hyman broadcasts a conservative rant -- called "The Point" -- which most of Sinclair's 62 stations are required to air during their local news. "The Point" predictably attacks Democrats and progressives while praising George Bush. No counterpoint is offered. This is an abuse of the public airwaves.

Our friends at Media Matters for America are spearheading a campaign to demand balance on Sinclair's evening news by telling Sinclair's advertisers about the partisanship they're supporting.

Can you contact Sinclair's local and national advertisers? Click here to visit the new website, SinclairAction.com:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=629

You can tell advertisers how Sinclair's "The Point" interjects partisan commentary into the evening news program they sponsor, reflecting poorly on their product. We are not suggesting a boycott of these advertisers. Rather, we are hoping these advertisers, as good corporate citizens, will persuade Sinclair to include a counterpoint.

In the last month, "The Point" has included partisan commentary like:


"Religion, particularly Christianity, has been under attack by the left for several years." (11/18/04)
" ridicule what red-staters see as moral values and in their arrogant and superior way, the Angry Left substitute their own topics they claim to represent real moral values: unjust war, tax relief and indifference to the environment." (11/23/04)
"Mainstream America will not vote for a party run by Hollywood liberals, greedy trial lawyers and clueless academia." (11/15/04)
"The facts never have and never will matter to the Angry Left." (12/7/04)
Sinclair's partisan bias is not new. In April, Sinclair forbade its stations from airing an ABC Nightline special honoring the 700 American soldiers killed in Iraq. Explaining its decision, Sinclair declared: "We do not believe political statements should be disguised as news content."

Sharing this sentiment, we're contacting Sinclair's advertisers to alert them to the partisan commentary Sinclair inserts into the local evening news. No company wants to be perceived as partisan. With our letters and calls, we can enlist Sinclair's advertisers to pressure Sinclair to offer a counterpoint.

To contact Sinclair's advertisers, click here:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=629


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Friends:

Yesterday, Media for Democracy and MediaChannel.org joined with other groups including Media Matters for America, Free Press, AlterNet, Campaign for America's Future, MoveOn.org, Working Assets, and Robert Greenwald (director of the documentary Outfoxed) to launch a campaign to protest Sinclair Broadcast Group?s continued misuse of public airwaves.

The campaign aims to spur action against Sinclair Broadcast Group's use of the 62 television stations it owns or operates to systematically promote partisan political interests. Of particular concern is a nightly "news and commentary" segment titled "The Point," in which Sinclair vice president Mark Hyman consistently espouses one-sided, conservative rhetoric without any counterpoint.

The vehicle for this initiative is a new website, www.SinclairAction.com, where you will be able to discuss this topic with others and register your concerns directly with corporations that advertise on Sinclair's stations. We are hopeful that advertisers will join our effort in encouraging Sinclair to give equal airtime to opposing views in a "counterpoint."

We believe the fairest way to remedy this situation is for Sinclair Broadcast Group to provide a meaningful opportunity for those with an opposing point of view to respond to editions of the "The Point." With your help, we can hold Sinclair accountable for its slanted news programming and demand that it become a responsible steward of the airwaves to which it has been granted access on behalf of the American people.

Thanks for taking part,

Timothy Karr
Media for Democracy

I took action on the MoveOn website when I got that e-mail. I've only received a handful of responses, most of them automated. Here's one from Proctor and Gamble:

Listening to consumers has always been an important part of P&G's success and we appreciate your feedback.

The preparation of news and public affairs programs is handled entirely by the news staff of the television network, and the selection of program content is based solely on their judgment. Due to the nature of news programming, advertisers are not given the opportunity to review the content in advance. The appearance of our commercials on such shows indicates neither our approval nor our disapproval of the content.

When making advertising decisions, we review content based on the program, not the network. If a program expresses an opinion for or against a specific political candidate, we would choose not to advertise on it.

It's important to us that you realize each and every comment we receive helps us make plans for the future. I'm sharing your concerns with the team responsible for television advertising.

Angie
P&G Team

well many of the stations who are affiliated with 'networks' are owned by Sinclair. Mark Hyman is a vice president of Sinclair.
This is more than enough reason not to advertise on a Sinclair owned station or to boycott any company that advertises there.

I received this letter also. They can play with words all they want, but the bottom line is: they will still be boycotted.

AND THEY WILL FORWARD TO 15
AND THEY WILL FORWARD TO 15

HEY..........A DEMOCRATIC MULTI LEVEL MARKETING NOTE!!!!!

thanks!

but I think Mark Hyman needs a good beating. "Hyman's Point" is anything but a legitimate news feature.