Sin-clair as Mud

Work has taken precedence over blogging (stupid work!), but this latest outrage by Sinclair Broadcasting has forced me to write. As you probably know, Sinclair, an unabashedly pro-GOP owner of 64 network affiliates nationwide, is now forcing its stations to pre-empt network programming two weeks before the election to air an anti-Kerry documentary called Stolen Honor, which basically looks like a 90-minute version of the infamous Swift Boat ads. 14 of Sinclair's stations air in swing states. Unlike the spate of left-wing political docs that appeared this summer, this will air for free on broadcast television without commercial interruption, which is practically unprecedented. The Nation's Eric Berman spells out the hypocrisy:

A cursory look at Sinclair's recent record shows which side the broadcasting company is on. This is the same Sinclair Broadcasting Group who last April cried wolf over an attempt to "influence public opinion" by forbidding its seven ABC affiliates from airing a Nightline special devoted to the soldiers killed in Iraq.

The same Sinclair who gave $66,000 to the Republican Party in 2004.

The same Sinclair who required weather men to read a statement supporting President Bush's war on terror in 2001.

The same Sinclair who prevented a Madison, Wisconsin Fox affiliate from airing an advertisement by the Democratic National Committee last July.

The same Sinclair who today forces local stations against their will to run a daily "commentary" segment by its corporate spokesman which calls the French "cheese eating surrender monkeys," and antiwar Congressman "unpatriotic politicians who hate our military."

This broadcast is totally outrageous, illegal actually (it's an effective donation to the Bush campaign), and because of FCC giveaways and the dearth of oversight over the corporate media, it can pretty much go unchecked. The last line of defense are the consumers. And blogs are leading the way in doing something about it. There's a movement to petition the FCC to contest Sinclair licenses as they come up for renewal. Folks at Kos are trying to get advertisers to pull their ads from Sinclair stations, and they've achieved their first victory:

As directed in this forum I sent emails to an advertiser saying that I enjoyed their products but that I was no longer going to use them, and that none of my friends and family were going to use them either because they advertised on Sinclair stations. I went on to tell them why I had a problem with Sinclair as well.

A few minutes ago I received a call from them telling me they were PULLING their advertising from the Sinclair stations.

This is what the right does all the time; they terrorize and boycott advertisers to try to remove sexual or violent content from the airwaves. And I have to admit, I'm a little uncomfortable with suppressing speech. At least I was, until Sinclair's Mark Hyman released this statement:

"The networks are acting like Holocaust deniers and pretending these people (the POWs) don't exist. It would be irresponsible to ignore them."

OK, go get 'em.

Maybe the only positive out of all of this is that it will force the long-overdue discussion about media monopolies and the dangers of consolidated ownership. The only difference between Sinclair and Pravda is the Russian accent.