Stop Sinclair Petition

[gldstwmn]

http://www.stopsinclair.org/index.php

[DeeGeMe]

I'm so furious about this that I can't see straight. I've already fired off e-mails to Sinclair and to the FCC and to several of their sponsors.

[gldstwmn]

Kick! :] :] :]

[dissention]

I signed it and fired off lots of emails and letters.

If you live near a Sinclair station, tonight are the protests at 6pm. I know I'll be out there. :wavey:

[DrummerDeanna]

I'm heading to the Democratic headquarters here in a few for a press conference on this whole deal...should be interesting...THEN I get to head to the Sinclair affiliate in town so they can tell me "no comment" haha....

[gldstwmn]

Their stock is down today. :)

[dissention]

Their stock is down today. :)

And it's a 52 week low. :laugh: :thumbsup:

[DeeGeMe]

With more advertisers defecting each and every day. Sweet.

[gldstwmn]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/politics/index.ssf?/base/politics-0/1098107948317350.xml&storylist=politics

By DAVID B. CARUSO
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Vietnam veteran filed a libel lawsuit Monday claiming he was falsely portrayed as a fraud and a liar in a film criticizing Sen. John Kerry's anti-war activities.

Kenneth J. Campbell, now a professor at the University of Delaware, said in the suit that "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" combines footage of him appearing at a 1971 war protest with a voice-over that claims that many of the supposed veterans who took part in the event were later "discovered as frauds" who "never set foot on the battlefield, or left the comfort of the States, or even served in uniform."

The suit said viewers would be left with the perception that Campbell had lied about his military service.

Campbell attached copies of his military records to the suit, showing that he received the Purple Heart medal and eight other medals, ribbons and decorations for his service as an artillery forward observer in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969.

The suit names the film's producer, Carlton Sherwood, and his company, Red White and Blue Productions, as defendants.

"The defendants' malicious, reckless and scandalous misrepresentations and falselight presentations of Dr. Campbell were done with the specific intent to defame Dr. Campbell and place him in a false light, and with a reckless and outrageous disregard for the truth," Campbell's attorney wrote in the lawsuit.

Campbell's lawyer also threatened legal action against the Sinclair Broadcast Group, an owner of 62 television stations that has announced that it intends to pre-empt regular program to broadcast "Stolen Honor" two weeks before the election. The 42-minute film is critical of Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, and his anti-war activism after he returned home from Vietnam three decades ago.

Phone messages left for Sinclair Broadcast Group, Red, White and Blue Productions and at a public relations firm representing Sherwood and the company were not immediately returned Monday.

The lawsuit was filed in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas.

The segment of "Stolen Honor" involving Campbell deals with a 1971 gathering in Detroit, during which Kerry and other servicemen shared stories about horrific acts they had committed or witnessed during the war.

Campbell, then 21, said he had seen American forces shell undefended villages, kill civilians, mutilate bodies and mistreat prisoners.

Veterans groups that supported the war have long argued with anti-war groups about the veracity of the alleged war crimes described during the event.

Sherwood has said he made "Stolen Honor" because he believed the soldiers' stories, later relayed by Kerry during testimony before Congress, were "lies" and "smear" that hurt veterans and demoralized American prisoners of war.

[dissention]

So, if it's "news," why doesn't Sinclair just air clips of it during the 5 o'clock news on their stations? :shrug:

It's not news, it's historical opinion with a hearty helping of propaganda.

[DeeGeMe]

So, if it's "news," why doesn't Sinclair just air clips of it during the 5 o'clock news on their stations? :shrug:

It's not news, it's historical opinion with a hearty helping of propaganda.

Exactly! But Michael "My dad is Colin" Powell, head of the FCC won't stop it and we know damn well the FEC has no balls so it WILL air no matter what we do or say. But at least we've fought the good thought here and have hurt them where it counts-in the pocketbook, and that, my friends, is a huge victory. Advertising is the heart and soul of any media organization and to lose your advertisers is huge. Many of those advertisers will take a long time to come back to Sinclair after this. Some never will come back again. Controversey isn't good for advertisers. And at least we've put people on notice that we're willing to fight and we have the know-how to fight so if anyother Repug, right-wing group out there is thinking about doing something similar, maybe they'll thing twice from now on. But Sinclair is owned, heart, soul, and balls, by Rove & Co. so there's no chance in hell that they won't air this ****.