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Stand By! Showtime Tonight for Sinclair Broadcasting
NEWS ANALYSISBy Andrea WoodYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- It's showtime tonight for Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. as 40 of its stations broadcast a politically charged program that critics claim sharply deviates from accepted journalistic practices.As Sinclair barricades itself with equivocations, political activists stage protests, legal sharks smell blood, and Big Media braces for aftershocks, the denouement could be a boomerang. "How is Sinclair Broadcast Group like Janet Jackson?" asks today's edition of "Inside Radio", a newsletter published by broadcast behemoth Clear Channel Communications. "They've both attracted unwelcome national attention to causes that are staying in the headlines. For Janet Jackson, it's indecency. For Sinclair, it's ownership consolidation. Its plans for an anti-Kerry documentary have got watchdogs howling."Also barking are investors in the publicly traded company, who fear the financial impact of alienating viewers and advertisers, and are now scrutinizing Sinclair's operations and whether executives unfairly enriched themselves through insider trading.Last week Sinclair ordered its 62 stations to broadcast a partisan documentary, "Stolen Honor," that attacks Sen. John Kerry's anti war activism 30 years ago. The dictate prompted widespread complaints that Sinclair was abusing its power as a licensee of the public airwaves. It also resulted in the online mobilization of media activists who targeted Sinclair's advertisers and shareholders.Confronted with a plummeting stock price, shareholders' lawsuits and advertiser cancellations, Sinclair dug in its heels, declared its critics biased and hasty -- then softened the program's content.Instead of broadcasting all 45 minutes of "Stolen Honor", as Sinclair initially indicated it would, the documentary will serve as just one source in a one-hour program now entitled "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media." And instead of ordering all 62 of its stations to broadcast the program, now only 40 stations will air it -- including Sinclair stations in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton. Explained Sinclair in an Oct. 20 press release: "The news special will focus in part ontheuseofdocumentaries and other media to influence voting, which emergedduringthe2004political campaigns, as well as on the contentofcertainofthesedocumentaries. The program will also examinetheroleofthemediainfilteringthe 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."In short, Sinclair still plans to slam Kerry and news organizations that do not share its right-wing viewpoint, but in ways its lawyers say comply with broadcast law.But lawyers for disgruntled shareholders say the content modifications don't change the fact that the company's partisan positions have damaged shareholder value. According to published reports, at least one of the lawsuits expected to be filed will claim Sinclair executives sold off large chunks of stock before embarking on controversial courses of action.Sinclair's stock closed at $7.13 Thursday, less than half its 52 week high of $15.43 per share but still higher than $6.12, the 52 week low. At noon today media activists gathered at Lafayette Park in Washington and paraded a few blocks to the White House carrying an oversized $9 million check from Sinclair to George W. Bush -- which protesters said symbolized the value of the illegal in-kind contribution Sinclair is effectively making to the Bush campaign by airing tonight's program.In the last four years, Sinclair executives have given more than $2 million to the Republican Party and George W. Bush's presidential campaigns. Its stations' centrally produced newscasts feature daily commentaries from an ultra conservative executive who repeatedly attacks the Democrats and Kerry -- particularly on his military service record.The Kerry campaign mobilized a group of Vietnam veterans, the Veterans Institute for Security and Democracy, which filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission over Sinclair's original plans to air the "Stolen Honor" documentary. The complaint argued that the documentary is not a bona fide news program and thereby was an illegal contribution to the Bush campaign. The Democratic National Committee filed a similar complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, which has taken no action.Yesterday the chairman of the FCC, Michael Powell, said commissioners were prepared to take "expeditious" action if it found tonight's program violated agency regulations. In a letter to U.S. Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, Powell indicated the program must qualify as "news" and Sinclair must "afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views on issues of public importance," according to "Broadcasting & Cable" magazine."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 Sen. Kerry or his designee," said Joe DeFeo, Sinclair vice president of news "Although the Kerry campaign declined to participate, Sinclair has left theinvitation open and will make every effort to accommodate the senator upto the air date for the program should he become willing to present his viewpoint for Sinclair's audience."Contact Andrea Wood at [email protected]"