On Saturday, the Los Angeles Times ran a report that the Sinclair Broadcast Group, "whose television outlets reach nearly a quarter of the nation's homes with TV, is ordering its stations to preempt regular programming just days before the Nov. 2 election to air" the film Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, "that attacks Sen. John F. Kerry's activism against the Vietnam War."
"Sinclair's programming plan, communicated to executives in recent days and coming in the thick of a close and intense presidential race, is highly unusual even in a political season that has been marked by media controversies."
Meanwhile, Josh Marshall is outraged: "It's not a 'fairness' or a free speech issue. It's a massive and quite public case of election and campaign finance fraud." And Daily Kos is urging its activist community to target Sinclair.
But Rick Hasen makes a very important point: "It is certainly unusual for a broadcast station to run what amounts to a long commentary against a candidate for federal office... But -- from the point of view of federal election law -- this is really no different from the New York Times endorsing a candidate for president (or running an oped supporting or opposing such a candidate)."
It will be interesting to see if a left-leaning media group runs Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which is now out on DVD.
