Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group’s decision to air an anti-John Kerry documentary continues to spawn controversy, including a protest in Madison Wednesday afternoon from a group opposed to Kerry’s campaign.
Supporters of independent candidate Ralph Nader hand-delivered a letter of complaint to the far West Side office of Sinclair’s local affiliate, WMSN Fox 47, pleading for the station to disobey orders from Sinclair CEO David Smith and not air the documentary.
“Smith’s demand that local broadcasters pre-empt regular primetime programming with what is essentially ideology masquerading as information is a crass attempt to exploit control of the public airwaves to promote a private political agenda,” Jim Senyszyn, a Nader activist from Illinois, said outside the station.
Joined by Nader’s Wisconsin field coordinator, Bill Linville, Senyszyn delivered the letter to the front desk of Fox 47’s studio. The effort is part of a nationwide “Corporate Crimebusters” campaign by Nader supporters to stop what they see as a “mockumentary” from being broadcast.
“Hopefully the public pressure as a result of this will force them to drop [the documentary],” Linville said.
Other protests in the wake of the Baltimore broadcaster’s decision have focused on companies advertising on Sinclair affiliates, forcing businesses to grapple with complaints from customers demanding a boycott of advertisers on Sinclair stations.
Bill Graves, co-owner of appliance company Brothers Main, said his business currently does not advertise on Fox 47, but will keep the documentary in mind when engaging in negotiations with local television stations in the near future.
“We’ve had a few customers wonder whether we advertise on [Fox 47],” Graves said. “They were pleased when we said no.”
Sinclair, meanwhile, has announced that, contrary to widespread speculation, it will not run the documentary “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” in its entirety. Instead, Sinclair stations will broadcast “A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media,” a news special exploring Kerry’s testimony against the Vietnam War in the context of the role documentaries and the media play in influencing voters.
Sinclair has extended an invitation for Kerry to air a rebuttal on its stations, but the senator has thus far declined to accept the offer.
Smith issued a statement defending his company’s decision to run the special program, accusing protestors of believing ill-founded rumors about the nature of the broadcaster’s plans.
“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,” Smith said.
Sinclair’s decision hastened a sharp rebound of its stock Wednesday on the Nasdaq market. The stock, which dropped from $7.38 a share Oct. 11 to $6.26 Oct. 19, closed at $7.05 Wednesday, a 12 percent gain.
Senyszyn was not convinced Sinclair had mended its ways, however.
“We think it’s still biased, and not balanced and fair,” he said. “They ought to stick to their business and get out of politics.”
