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Author
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Topic: Don't ya just hate Censorship?
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted October 15, 2004 08:52 PM
Updated: 06:23 PM EDT
Kerry Campaign Seeks Equal Time Over Film
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, AP
(Oct. 15) - Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign, contending that Sinclair Broadcast Group wants to help President Bush by airing an anti-Kerry documentary two weeks before the election, asked on Friday that each station carrying the program provide a similar amount of time to Kerry supporters.
Meanwhile, Kerry's Massachusetts colleague, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, asked the Justice Department on Friday to review if broadcasting the documentary amounts to an unlawful campaign contribution warranting a criminal investigation.
The public's interest in a fair and lawful election demand "at least a preliminary determination as to whether the persons involved are vulnerable to criminal charges," Kennedy said in a letter to Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey Jr.
Sinclair has contended that the program is news, covering an issue of interest and importance to viewers, and has invited Kerry to appear on a post-broadcast program. Kerry has declined.
A call for comment about the Kerry campaign request was not answered at Sinclair's main phone number in Hunt Valley, Md.
Sinclair, based near Baltimore, has asked its 62 television stations to pre-empt regular programming to air "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal." Many of the stations are in swing states that could decide the outcome of the Nov. 2 election.
The film, described in online marketing as "a documentary exposing John Kerry's record of betrayal," explores his 1971 testimony before the Senate and links him to anti-war activist and actress Jane Fonda. Vietnam prisoners of war and their wives claim in the film that his testimony demeaned them and led to prisoners being held longer.
In a letter Friday to Sinclair President David D. Smith, Kerry campaign attorney Marc E. Elias requested time on each station at an hour when an audience of similar size could be expected to be watching.
Citing decisions by the Federal Communications Commission, Elias said stations that permit supporters of a campaign to "use its facilities to advance that candidate's campaign must provide supporters of the opposing candidate 'quasi-equal opportunities."'
Elias said the content of "Stolen Honor" is not controlled by Sinclair or an independent journalistic organization and that the program is not a news program, a news interview nor a documentary that would qualify for an exemption.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell said Thursday the federal agency would not block Sinclair from airing the program, noting that the commission has never taken such action and that no rules allow it to prevent the broadcast.
On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission contending that airing the film should be considered an illegal in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign.
10/15/04 18:03 EDT
edit:
Also Friday, Michael Moore offered to let Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. air the movie Fehrenheit 9-11 for free. Such a deal would likely get a chilly reception at Sinclair, a broadcaster with a reputation for conservative politics that plans to air a critical documentary about John Kerry's anti-Vietnam War activities on dozens of TV stations two weeks before the election.
10/15/04 22:06 EDT
[ October 15, 2004, 08:59 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32392 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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