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Not gonna happen. The Dems play some fukking hardball (straight from the GOP playbook) for a change.....
MSNBC.com
‘Stolen Honor’
Furious over Sinclair Broadcast Group’s plans to air an anti-Kerry documentary on 40 TV stations, Democrats fought back—and won
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By T. Trent Gegax
Newsweek
Updated: 7:23 p.m. ET Oct. 20, 2004
Oct. 20 - It may have seemed nearly as improbable as the Boston Red Sox taking a playoff series from the New York Yankees. The Democrats, long derided for their reluctance to go for the political jugular, won a round of behind-the-scenes smash-mouth politics. Venting in a language that persuades even the most ideological Republican, they attacked the stock price of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The result: Sinclair caved in to pressure and decided not to air the anti-John Kerry documentary "Stolen Honor." Instead, the company said it will broadcast excerpts from the film as part of a news program, “A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media,” at 8 p.m. ET on Friday. In a statement, the company claimed that it had never publicly announced plans to run “Stolen Honor” in its entirety.
"Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" is a documentary about how Kerry allegedly betrayed his fellow service members when he was protesting the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. Democrats and some media critics call it anti-Kerry propaganda that could affect swing states in the presidential election, given Sinclair's reach into 24 percent of U.S. television households. Democrats claimed that Sinclair's move was analogous to ABC or CBS preempting programming to run "Fahrenheit 9/11" and presenting it as news. Imagine the outrage that would ensue, they argue.
Unlike the Kerry campaign's duel with the hydra-headed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Democratic operatives were presented with a specific target in this case: a public corporation. An effort gelled to kill the controversial movie by launching lawsuits at Sinclair and agitate its investors into revolt. The Hunt Valley, Md.-based broadcaster had reportedly ordered its 62 television affiliates to preempt programming and air “Stolen Honor” beginning Oct. 21. That had Democrats breathing fire. “If Sinclair runs that broadcast,” a senior Democratic official said a few days ago, there won't be a Sinclair by the next election. “They've declared war on every Democrat in America, and what we're seeing is 80 million Democrats declaring war on Sinclair and whoever does business with them.” Sinclair didn't have to wait till a would-be Kerry administration was installed to start worrying about political payback.
Sinclair's pocketbook came under immediate assault. Big institutions, including some unions and pension funds, pressured their fund managers to dump Sinclair's stock, according to an institutional investor for one of the country's largest trade unions—which traditionally align with the Democratic Party. Realizing their portfolios were at risk, some Wall Street decision-makers—money managers, investment advisors, pension funds and individual investors—burst into open revolt. New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, a Democrat, is the sole trustee for the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which owns about 250,000 shares of Sinclair stock. In a letter to Sinclair executives, Hevesi criticized the negative publicity generated by the controversy and the subsequent impact on the company’s stock.
In three days, Sinclair's stock slid nearly 15 percent. Yesterday, a collection of Sinclair's shareholders called in the lawyers. Glickenhaus & Co., a New York money-management firm that owns significant shares of Sinclair, informed the broadcaster that they would sue unless it altered plans to air the film. Additionally, a group led by a New York hospital-employees pension fund announced that it was suing the broadcaster to recover damages from alleged insider trading and any fallout from the "Stolen Honor" controversy. The group served Sinclair with papers yesterday. Calls to the broadcaster for comment went unreturned.
The shareholders' insider-trading allegation is based on a large volume of trades that occurred just before Sinclair's advertising went south. Shareholders also sought damages for any drag "Stolen Honor" might have on revenues, via fines or boycotts. "This company has been very hurt by its decision to run a political movie," said the shareholders’ attorney, William Lerach, a noted securities litigator and prominent player in Democratic circles. Sinclair's stock price dropped from $8 to $6.50 in the past three weeks, but rebounded to $7 Wednesday after the company said it wouldn’t run “Stolen Honor” in its entirety.
Democratic operatives also instigated boycotts against Sinclair advertisers. They pressured a Philadelphia theater to cancel the movie's premiere. In cities like Portland, Maine, supermarkets, auto shops, restaurants and law offices withdrew their advertising from Sinclair stations. Of the top five institutional holders of Sinclair stock, four, including Gabelli & Co., either spoke out publicly, privately to Sinclair executives or were lobbied by clients to sell Sinclair stock. A large junk-bond manager, for instance, called to vent at Sinclair's execs.
The Kerry campaign claimed it had nothing to do with the coordinated assault by Democratic operatives on Sinclair. They don't need to, they said. "People don't have to be whipped up about this," said Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton. "You don't expect your local TV station to be pushing a political agenda two weeks before an election. It's un-American."
© 2004 Newsweek, Inc.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6293163/site/newsweek/
MSNBC.com
‘Stolen Honor’
Furious over Sinclair Broadcast Group’s plans to air an anti-Kerry documentary on 40 TV stations, Democrats fought back—and won
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By T. Trent Gegax
Newsweek
Updated: 7:23 p.m. ET Oct. 20, 2004
Oct. 20 - It may have seemed nearly as improbable as the Boston Red Sox taking a playoff series from the New York Yankees. The Democrats, long derided for their reluctance to go for the political jugular, won a round of behind-the-scenes smash-mouth politics. Venting in a language that persuades even the most ideological Republican, they attacked the stock price of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The result: Sinclair caved in to pressure and decided not to air the anti-John Kerry documentary "Stolen Honor." Instead, the company said it will broadcast excerpts from the film as part of a news program, “A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media,” at 8 p.m. ET on Friday. In a statement, the company claimed that it had never publicly announced plans to run “Stolen Honor” in its entirety.
"Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" is a documentary about how Kerry allegedly betrayed his fellow service members when he was protesting the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. Democrats and some media critics call it anti-Kerry propaganda that could affect swing states in the presidential election, given Sinclair's reach into 24 percent of U.S. television households. Democrats claimed that Sinclair's move was analogous to ABC or CBS preempting programming to run "Fahrenheit 9/11" and presenting it as news. Imagine the outrage that would ensue, they argue.
Unlike the Kerry campaign's duel with the hydra-headed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Democratic operatives were presented with a specific target in this case: a public corporation. An effort gelled to kill the controversial movie by launching lawsuits at Sinclair and agitate its investors into revolt. The Hunt Valley, Md.-based broadcaster had reportedly ordered its 62 television affiliates to preempt programming and air “Stolen Honor” beginning Oct. 21. That had Democrats breathing fire. “If Sinclair runs that broadcast,” a senior Democratic official said a few days ago, there won't be a Sinclair by the next election. “They've declared war on every Democrat in America, and what we're seeing is 80 million Democrats declaring war on Sinclair and whoever does business with them.” Sinclair didn't have to wait till a would-be Kerry administration was installed to start worrying about political payback.
Sinclair's pocketbook came under immediate assault. Big institutions, including some unions and pension funds, pressured their fund managers to dump Sinclair's stock, according to an institutional investor for one of the country's largest trade unions—which traditionally align with the Democratic Party. Realizing their portfolios were at risk, some Wall Street decision-makers—money managers, investment advisors, pension funds and individual investors—burst into open revolt. New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, a Democrat, is the sole trustee for the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which owns about 250,000 shares of Sinclair stock. In a letter to Sinclair executives, Hevesi criticized the negative publicity generated by the controversy and the subsequent impact on the company’s stock.
In three days, Sinclair's stock slid nearly 15 percent. Yesterday, a collection of Sinclair's shareholders called in the lawyers. Glickenhaus & Co., a New York money-management firm that owns significant shares of Sinclair, informed the broadcaster that they would sue unless it altered plans to air the film. Additionally, a group led by a New York hospital-employees pension fund announced that it was suing the broadcaster to recover damages from alleged insider trading and any fallout from the "Stolen Honor" controversy. The group served Sinclair with papers yesterday. Calls to the broadcaster for comment went unreturned.
The shareholders' insider-trading allegation is based on a large volume of trades that occurred just before Sinclair's advertising went south. Shareholders also sought damages for any drag "Stolen Honor" might have on revenues, via fines or boycotts. "This company has been very hurt by its decision to run a political movie," said the shareholders’ attorney, William Lerach, a noted securities litigator and prominent player in Democratic circles. Sinclair's stock price dropped from $8 to $6.50 in the past three weeks, but rebounded to $7 Wednesday after the company said it wouldn’t run “Stolen Honor” in its entirety.
Democratic operatives also instigated boycotts against Sinclair advertisers. They pressured a Philadelphia theater to cancel the movie's premiere. In cities like Portland, Maine, supermarkets, auto shops, restaurants and law offices withdrew their advertising from Sinclair stations. Of the top five institutional holders of Sinclair stock, four, including Gabelli & Co., either spoke out publicly, privately to Sinclair executives or were lobbied by clients to sell Sinclair stock. A large junk-bond manager, for instance, called to vent at Sinclair's execs.
The Kerry campaign claimed it had nothing to do with the coordinated assault by Democratic operatives on Sinclair. They don't need to, they said. "People don't have to be whipped up about this," said Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton. "You don't expect your local TV station to be pushing a political agenda two weeks before an election. It's un-American."
© 2004 Newsweek, Inc.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6293163/site/newsweek/
