Sinclair Broadcasting, Fox News & An Election
Reported by Melanie - October 12, 2004 -
Today (October 12, 2004) on Dayside w/Linda Vester, Sinclair Broadcasting's plan to air Stolen Honor on 62 of it's television stations permitted Fox to resurrected the issue of John Kerry's Vietnam service and his 197l testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. It was August all over again, and it felt like Swift Boat time once more.
One of Fox's two segments (the other featured a spokesman from the Kerry campaign) featured guest Mark Hyman, VP for corporate relations at Sinclair Broadcasting. Per Vester's introduction, he "also serves as a conservative commentator on the station."
Vester said Democrats claim that Sinclair is trying to "throw the election toward George Bush." Hyman said this is a "newsworthy" event, veterans in the film say that Kerry's l97l Senate testimony caused them to suffer torture when their captors "specifically used John Kerry's testimony" to try to force them to confess. Hyman said Sinclair spent a "couple weeks" checking the background of the veterans and they've asked John Kerry to join in a discussion after airing the film. Fox didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth so it took the opportunity to air a portion of the video in which a man says he was "branded by Kerry as a demon and a murderer."
Vester asked what made Hyman think Kerry would appear when he hasn't respond to these charges so far? Hyman said maybe they're being more persistent but said again that these are issues which ought to be addressed "because it's newsworthy," these men came forward on their own, Kerry made his military service a campaign issue and he "can't cherry pick it and say take a look at this aspect of my service but ignore that over there." The men have earned the right to talk about the "unspeakable horrors" they suffered.
Vester asked if Hyman was sure "every piece" was true and Hyman said, "We went through and verified through the Department of Defense these men in fact were Vietnan veterans, were prisoners of war." While he can't vouch for what happened inside the prison, they have a powerful story to tell. They have a chance for the first time in 30 years to ask, "Why did you brand us as war criminals? Why did you way we were guilty of wartime atrocities? That was used against me in my torture."
Vester asked Hyman what he'll do if Kerry doesn't agree to participate and Hyman said, "There'll be a Plan B," that they're willing to "burn the midnight oil" and travel anywhere to link up with Kerry. Vester, stooping to new lows, asked Hyman whether, if Kerry is elected, "your company could be in deep trouble trying to renew licenses for your stations?" Hyman said compared to what the men in Stolen Honor went through, standing up for what's right is the only thing to do to try and repay the debt society owes to the veterans.
COMMENT: Naturally, issues such as fair use of public airwaves or equal time for a John Kerry film never came up. This segment was about getting in digs at John Kerry, not about discussing the legitimacy of airing a pro-Bush video over airwaves owned by all the citizens of the United States, regardless of their political affiliation.
