Monday, October 11, 2004

TV Show Me the Campaign Money

A television broadcast group owned by financial contributors to President Bush and the Republican Paryty is ordering up to 62 of it's TV stations to broadcase a documentary critical of Senator John Kerry. The Sinclair Broadcasting Group plans to show the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds the Never Heal" about Senator Kerry's opposition to the Vietnam War.

The documentary claims that Kerry's activities were used by the North Vietnamese to inflict torture on American POWs. The show includes interviews with two people who appeared the the "Swift Boat" ads run against Senator Kerry.

Mark Hyman, Sinclair's VP for corporate relations -- who doubles as Sinclair's conservative commentator -- says Sinclair believes the documentary is newsworthy. Because Sinclair deems the documentary as news rather than commentary, it's unclear whether Sinclair will be forced to provide equal time to the Kerry campaign to respond. (NYT)

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