McCain Letter to Sinclair Broadcast Preemption of Nightline

`Nightline' divides audience
Posted on Thu, Apr. 29, 2004
`Nightline' divides audience
BY LIZ HALLORAN
The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD, Conn. - (KRT) - ABC newsman Ted Koppel's plan to devote tonight's "Nightline" to reading the names of the more than 700 U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq has stirred anger and praise, and prompted one media company to bar its stations from airing the program.

Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group said Thursday that the unique program is politically motivated and ordered its seven ABC affiliates, including WGGB in Springfield, Mass., not to air it.

"While the Sinclair Broadcast Group honors the memory of the brave members of the military who have sacrificed their lives in the service of our country, we do not believe such political statements should be disguised as news content," said Barry Faber, Sinclair's counsel, in a prepared statement issued in response to a request for comment.

The controversy comes as the American public is getting a look at photographs of flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq, and while a national debate is underway over the Bush administration's attempt to keep such images from the public eye.

Sinclair owns 62 television stations in 39 markets and its employees contributed more than $174,000 to political campaigns in 2000, 98 percent of which went to Republicans. Sinclair has sought to distinguish itself as a conservative news source and in recent months has undertaken an effort to report good news out of Iraq.

ABC News, which is owned by Disney, issued a statement disagreeing with Sinclair's decision to pre-empt the program, and characterizing the planned "Nightline" as "an expression of respect which simply seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country."

Leroy Sievers, "Nightline" executive producer, said the hubbub over the program has surprised him.

"It never occurred to me that people would react this way," Sievers said. "Two weeks ago, President Bush said it's important to honor the sacrifice of people who died. That's what we're doing."

Sievers said both he and Koppel had been embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division during the early phase of the war, and had recently become concerned that the network's regular "In the Line of Duty" feature was not enough to recognize those who died.

"We wanted to make them individuals," he said. "Whether you agree with the war or not, these people are over there in our name, and paid the price with their lives.

"At least we can give them their names," he said.

Some critics, including Lisa de Moraes of the Washington Post, have said ABC is using the program to pump up viewership during sweeps week, a charge Sievers denies.

"Unfortunately my defense is I'm too stupid to know it was sweeps," he said. "Going into this, we never thought this would be a ratings winner."

The half-hour program will be expanded several minutes to accommodate the reading of the names, which have been certified by the Defense Department. Koppel will read the roll while showing two photographs at a time with each person's name, age, rank, and service.

Jim Doyle of the Vietnam Veterans Association said the organization fully supports Koppel and the "Nightline" effort - especially in a month when the casualty figures are the highest since 1971.

"We think it's absolutely the right idea," said Doyle, who lives in Fresno. "They won't let us see the flag-draped coffins, at least we should see their faces."

Russell K. Terry, a Vietnam veteran who runs the website "http://www.iraqwarveterans.org" said he believes the "American public is entitled to see and hear everything - that's what they are over there fighting for."

"I support the fact that we hear all their names - and it doesn't matter to me who reads them. It could be Howard Stern for all I care," he said. "Everybody needs to know."

All of this has a somewhat familiar ring to Av Westin, who spent 55 years in the television business - including running ABC News during the Vietnam War.

"Each week during the Vietnam War we posted on the evening news a body count which listed the number of North Vietnamese or Viet Cong who were killed as well as American casualties," he said. "As the war went on, the listing of the American casualties became much more of a political factor than it had been at the beginning of the war.

"This was particularly true as the public's perception of the war was shifting from `We're in it,' to `Why are we there?'"

Westin said he believes that Sinclair's action, which is an owner's right, is an example of how the war has become politicized and predicted it will lead to criticism of the media company in the communities it serves.

"Sinclair is trying to position itself as a junior Fox News," he said. "Those who don't support the war will come away from the `Nightline' program angrier, and those who support it will come away with resolve that we can't walk away from this."

Chris Westerkamp, station manager at WGGB in Springfield, said Sinclair "wants to distinguish itself from other media."

"They have a particular point of view, and it's more conservative, that's all," he said. "If you look at it from their standpoint, there's the feeling that the media is more liberal than it should be and this is a way to take a different tack."

As to what ABC viewers in Springfield will see tonight in place of "Nightline" and the list of war dead, Westerkamp said: "I don't know yet. We'll have something. Maybe a sitcom."

SINCLAIR RESPONDS TO SENATOR MCCAIN
SINCLAIR RESPONDS TO SENATOR MCCAIN

BALTIMORE (April 30, 2004) - The following is a copy of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: SBGI) letter sent today to Senator McCain regarding the Company's decision not to air this evening's episode of "Nightline."

April 30, 2004

Senator John McCain, Chairman
United States Senate Commerce Committee
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator McCain:

I am writing to respond to your letter to me regarding Sinclair Broadcast Group's decision not to air this evening's episode of "Nightline."

Let me begin by saying that no organization more fully supports our military than Sinclair. In no way was our decision intended to show any disrespect to the brave members of our military, particularly those who have sacrificed their lives in service of our country. To the contrary, our decision was based on a desire to stop the misuse of their sacrifice to support an anti-war position with which most, if not all, of these soldiers would not have agreed.

Senator McCain, together with you, I also support the President's decision to go to war in Iraq. Moreover, while I don't disagree that Americans need to understand the costs of war and sacrifices of our military volunteers, I firmly believe that responsible journalism requires that a discussion of these costs must necessarily be accompanied by a description of the benefits of military action and the events that precipitated that action. To those who would accuse Sinclair of censorship, we ask that they consider the daily decisions of network shows like "Nightline" as to what issues to cover and how they are to be presented, decisions that necessarily involve ignoring other issues and points of view that the networks choose not to present to the American public.

Sinclair's news coverage during the last year has reported on all aspects of the war in Iraq, including the tragic loss of lives of military combatants. In fact, we will be replacing "Nightline" this evening with a balanced report addressing both sides of this controversy. It is worth noting that "Nightline" and its host, Ted Koppel, have ignored repeated requests from Sinclair to comment on their decision regarding the content of tonight's program.

It is "Nightline's" failure to present the entire story, however, to which Sinclair objects. "Nightline" is not reporting news; it is doing nothing more than making a political statement. In simply reading the names of our fallen heroes, this program has adopted a strategy employed by numerous anti-war demonstrators who wish to focus attention solely on the cost of war. In fact, lest there be any doubt about "Nightline's" motivation, both Mr. Koppel and "Nightline's" executive producer have acknowledged that tonight's episode was influenced by the Life Magazine article listing the names of dead soldiers in Vietnam, which article was widely credited with furthering the opposition to the Vietnam war and with creating a backlash of public opinion against the members of the U.S. military who had proudly served in that conflict

In closing, I would like to quote for you the words of Captain Kate Blaise of the U.S. Military. Captain Blaise served in Iraq as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and suffered the loss of her husband Mike who was killed while also serving in Iraq. In commenting on exactly the type of practice which "Nightline" intends to employ, Captain Blaise had this to say:

"I was watching the news, watching this anti-war demonstration and they were reading off names of soldiers who had fallen in Iraq and they read off my husband's name. That made me very angry because he very strongly believed in what he was doing and they were using his name for a purpose that he would not have approved of."

I hope that this letter has adequately addressed your concerns and explained why Sinclair has taken this action. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you in greater detail. In addition, if you are available, we would be delighted to provide you with a chance to be part of our program this evening discussing this issue.

Sincerely yours,
David D. Smith

One notes the absence of middle ground.

Bush controls a group of conservative regional media conglomorates who contribute heavily to the RNC and GOP candidates. But I think this is going to come back and bite Bush in his rear end.

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