Sinclair Broadcasting did not violate federal election law by running portions of a documentary critical of John Kerry's Vietnam-era anti-war activities, the Federal Elections Commission announced Friday.
Suburban Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., owner of 62 television stations that reach a quarter of all U.S. households, was criticized for what the Democratic National Committee said was a plan to order its stations to show the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 presidential election.
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The DNC filed the FEC complaint on Oct. 12, contending that showing the film would be an illegal in-kind contribution to President Bush's campaign. Kerry's campaign asked that each station carrying the program give a similar amount of time to Kerry supporters.
After shareholders complained such a broadcast could hurt their investment in the company, Sinclair announced that only segments of the documentary would be shown during a program examining the use of such documentaries to influence elections. The program aired Oct. 22 on 40 Sinclair stations.
In its Nov. 5 response to the FEC, Sinclair contended the Democratic complaint was moot because the stations did not broadcast the documentary in its entirety.
The FEC said the commission's media exemption applied in the case.
Commissioner Ellen Weintraub wrote in a statement about her decision on the case that it was "important to emphasize that the press exemption shields press entities from investigations into alleged coordination."
"This agency cannot and should not attempt to arbitrate claims of media bias or breaches of journalistic ethics," Weintraub said.
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