|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Sinclair to Air Only Portion of 'Stolen Honor' Friday Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. announced today that on Friday, Oct. 22, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. EST certain television stations owned by Sinclair will air a special one-hour news program entitled "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media." In order to minimize the interruption of normally scheduled programming in those markets where Sinclair owns and/or programs more than one television station, the news special will be broadcast on only one of those stations. Story Continues Below
A complete list of stations airing the program and the times of such broadcasts is at the end of this article.
The news special will focus in part on the use of documentaries and other media to influence voting, which emerged during the 2004 political campaigns, as well as on the content of certain of these documentaries.
The program also will examine the role of the media in filtering the information contained in these documentaries, allegations of media bias by media organizations that ignore or filter legitimate news and the attempts by candidates and other organizations to influence media coverage.
Contrary to numerous inaccurate political and press accounts, the Sinclair stations will not be airing the documentary "Stolen Honor" in its entirety.
At no time did Sinclair ever publicly announce that it intended to do so. In fact, since the controversy began, Sinclair's Web site has prominently displayed the following statement: "The program has not been videotaped and the exact format of this unscripted event has not been finalized. Characterizations regarding the content are premature and are based on ill-informed sources."
While the news special will discuss the allegations surrounding Sen. John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activities in the early 1970s raised by a number of former POWs in "Stolen Honor," it will do so in the context of the broader discussion outlined above. The program will be hosted by Jeff Barnd, the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of Fox 45's 10:00 News, which airs on WBFF-TV, Sinclair's flagship station in Baltimore, Md.
Joe DeFeo, Sinclair's Vice President of News, commented that, "As with all news programming produced by Sinclair's News Central, 'A POW Story' is being produced with the highest journalistic standards and integrity. 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."
In fact, Sinclair has been in private communication with Sen. Kerry's campaign, including a recent face-to-face meeting with senior campaign officials, for approximately two weeks in order to negotiate participation in the special by either Kerry or his designee.
Although the Kerry campaign declined to participate, Sinclair has left the invitation open and will make every effort to accommodate the senator up to the air date for the program should he become willing to present his viewpoint for Sinclair's audience.
David Smith, president and CEO of Sinclair, noted: "The experience of preparing to air this news special has been trying for many of those involved. 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 Senator John Kerry's campaign and have seen attempts by leading members of Congress to influence the Federal Communications Commission 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."
Smith further stated, "We cannot in a free America yield to the misguided attempts by a small but vocal minority to influence behavior and trample on the First Amendment rights of those with whom they might not agree. I have been encouraged, however, by the thousands of e-mails and other messages I, and others, received supporting Sinclair's efforts to hold firm to its ideals in the face of a firestorm of controversy which, ironically, was actually based on misinformation. We also took comfort in the positions of other media organizations which supported our right to present this story notwithstanding any disagreement they may have with the content, as well as in the words of Michael Powell, Chairman of the FCC who refused to block the program, noting that to do so would be 'unconstitutional' and 'an absolute disservice to the First Amendment.'"
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies, owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 62 television stations in 39 markets. Sinclair's television group includes FOX, WB, ABC, CBS, NBC and UPN affiliates and reaches approximately 24 percent of all U.S. television households.
Market & Stations to Air "A POW Story":
Baltimore WBFF Friday 10/22 8PM
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Inside Cover Stories
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2009 NewsMax.Com |