# Nightline preemption: I pit the Sinclair Group **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 30, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842 "2004-04-30T13:21:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/41 "2004-05-01T04:51:11Z")
> [@Dan Norder](#): > > Koppel is delivering news. Sinclair is censoring it. Huge difference. Nope, it’s political. How many soldiers who’ve died in Afghanistan are having their names read? I guess they don’t count in the Bush-basher’s collumns, huh? ---
**Author:** ![trey\_goesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9c0ed/32.png) [@trey\_goesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trey_goesh)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/42 "2004-05-01T04:59:11Z")
\>\>How many soldiers who’ve died in Afghanistan are having their names read? good question. i don’t even know how many american soldiers have died in afgahnistan. then again, i don’t know much about how the war there is going at all, since the bush administration seems to have forgotten about it as well, leaving the taliban to pick up where it left off. for my money (and it is my money…) the soldiers in afgahnistan deserve the same support, respect, and attention that the ones in iraq do. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/43 "2004-05-01T06:16:25Z")
Re: David Smith’s alleged arrest/sex scandal thingy … > [@spooje](#): > > Can I get a cite on that? > > Oh, wait. It’s you. Never mind. Heh. Well, I agree that **Johnny G** has been spending a bit too much time fashioning hats out of Saran Wrap instead of the more effective Reynold’s, but believe it or not, this tidbit appears to be true. 🙂 Not a web cite, but available on Lexis/Nexis, this is from the 8/15/1996 edition of the _Baltimore Sun_ > [@](#): > > The president of Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which owns the local Fox television affiliate, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with committing a perverted sex act in a company-owned Mercedes, city police said. > > David Deniston Smith, 45, of (HOME ADDRESS THOUGHTFULLY DELETED BY A PRUDENT **CHOIE** ) in Timonium, who also is Sinclair’s chief executive, was arrested in an undercover sting at Read and St. Paul streets, a downtown corner frequented by prostitutes, Baltimore police said yesterday. > > Smith and Mary DiPaulo, 31, were charged with committing unnatural and perverted sex act. Smith was held overnight at the Central Booking and Intake Center and released on personal recognizance at 2 p.m. yesterday… (snip) > > Officials at WBFF-TV (Fox 45) and Sinclair, one of the fastest-growing broadcasting companies in the nation with 28 television and 34 radio stations, would not comment yesterday … (snip) > > Police said undercover Officer Gary Bowman, on a prostitution detail, was talking to DiPaulo about 9: 15 p.m. in a car at St. Paul and Read streets. _She left the undercover car after telling Bowman that ``she had just seen her regular date driving (nearby)…"_ > > Police said DiPaulo ran across the street to a 1992 Mercedes, registered to Sinclair, and got in on the passenger side. Police followed the car onto the Jones Falls Expressway, where they said they witnessed the two engage in oral sex while Smith drove north… I italicized the part that caught my eye. Apparently he was a regular. Aw, that kind of constancy in a customer is rather touching. Anyway, that’s the scoop. Nothing on whether he served any time, if they slapped a fine on him, or if the charges were dropped. Smith sure seems to be quite flexible. First he was a john with Mary, and now he’s a whore for Bush. Bravo! (digression) So oral sex is considered ‘unnatural and perverted’ in Baltimore? Interesting. Well, maybe when performed on or by NeoCons… (/digression) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/44 "2004-05-01T10:06:26Z")
You pull out an eight year old report about two adults engaging in consentual sex… for what? How are you any different from the tight-assed conservatives who peer into people’s private business? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/45 "2004-05-01T12:13:39Z")
> [@Libertarian](#): > > You pull out an eight year old report about two adults engaging in consentual sex… for what? How are you any different from the tight-assed conservatives who peer into people’s private business? **Choie** was just responding to me responding to **Johnny G**. What? You don’t find it weird that **Johnny G** was actually right about something? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/46 "2004-05-01T21:26:48Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > No, they are refusing to air a program. That news is available in many other sources in a variety of media. Doesn’t matter if the information is painted on the moon for all to see. Each city with a network affiliate has exactly that one affiliate for that network. In the cities where Sinclair owns ABC stations, people aren’t getting that information through ABC, for reasons which are pretty much related purely to the owners’ politics. That’s corporate censorship in my book, and while Sinclair’s owners may be legally justified in withholding programming with which it disagrees, I think ABC would do its viewers a great service by reviewing its contract with Sinclair. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/47 "2004-05-01T22:55:54Z")
You know, Liberal though I am and as much as I relish the idea of anything that embarrasses the Bush administration, I have to say that I really think that just this once we should try to look beyond politics. When I was a younger lad, I had the occasion to visit the AIDS quilt. Basically, all that happened is that you walked around inside of the quilt while people on a PA in the background read off name after name after name. This was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Once that I will carry with me to my grave. I had lost a friend to AIDS that year, and had learned that another had tested positive for HIV. I was able to let out my grief, and was surrounded by total strangers who nonetheless were felling what I was feeling. I was less alone. That, to me, is what is important here. The personalizing of these promising young lives cut tragically short. These people should be more than some fucking statistic on the war section of the newspaper that I scan past as I have my morning coffee and get ready for work. Take what political message you want from this war, but if reading these names aloud gets just one person to reflect on the cost of war then I say that a good thing has happened. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/48 "2004-05-02T01:58:21Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > That’s corporate censorship in my book, and while Sinclair’s owners may be legally justified in withholding programming with which it disagrees, I think ABC would do its viewers a great service by reviewing its contract with Sinclair. I think ABC would do well to review that contract as well. Especially if the viewership in those affected areas are unhappy with Sinclair’s decision (as I would be). But I still cannot call it censorship. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/49 "2004-05-02T02:36:17Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I think ABC would do well to review that contract as well. Especially if the viewership in those affected areas are unhappy with Sinclair’s decision (as I would be). > > But I still cannot call it censorship. It is, but it’s not. It’s not legal censorship because the government isn’t involved. But private media outlets can and do routinely censor their programming based on their particular interests and political leanings. This is not news, by the way. Robin ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/50 "2004-05-02T04:59:38Z")
> [@JamesCarroll](#): > > As the response says, the media COULD read the thouasands of names of the WTC dead. But they don’t. Or they could make the names scroll in 20 foot tall letters above the head of U2 as they performed at the super bowl halftime show, one of the most watched television events in history. Oh wait, they did. -lv ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/51 "2004-05-02T07:38:52Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > Or they could make the names scroll in 20 foot tall letters above the head of U2 as they performed at the super bowl halftime show, one of the most watched television events in history. > > Oh wait, they did. > > -lv And U2 doing a halftime show equates to “legitimate” new shows how? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/52 "2004-05-02T12:20:21Z")
> [@Libertarian](#): > > You pull out an eight year old report about two adults engaging in consentual sex… for what? How are you any different from the tight-assed conservatives who peer into people’s private business? Christ on a bun, you are so incredibly predictable. As **spooje** said, I was simply giving factual information that he’d requested. Gee, information … you remember that, don’t you? The reason this board exists? Or are you so fanatically obsessed with hunting out tiny openings through which you can jump willy-nilly into a thread and spew the same tired “nyeah nyeah you liberals are just as bad as conservatives and I’m rubber you’re glue everything I say bounces off of me and sticks to you” crapola, that you couldn’t be bothered to notice my reference to **Johnny G.**'s prior post and **spooje** ’s subsequent request for a cite? In any event, one might well posit that our good friend Mr. Smith’s “private business” ceased to be private when he did it in a car owned by the stockholders of his company, paid for it and thereby committing an illegal act, and was then arrested for it which brought the business out in the open since arrests are public information. Yes, one _might_ posit that, but I won’t, since I really couldn’t fucking care less about what that right-wing shithead hypocritical shill did with his undoubtedly miniscule _membrum virile_. I was just performing a needed service, is all. 😉 Much like Ms. DiPaulo, although no one’s paying me to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/53 "2004-05-03T11:09:47Z")
Bullshit. Just because you’re co-consipirators doesn’t ameliorate the utter worthlessness of the input. I don’t hear you railing about Clinton shooting off on his interns in the Oval Office that is owned by the shareholders called Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/54 "2004-05-03T11:30:07Z")
> [@JamesCarroll](#): > > As the response says, the media COULD read the thouasands of names of the WTC dead. But they don’t. Since the dead of 9/11 have nothing to do with the dead of the Iraq war, why would they read off the 9/11 dead? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/55 "2004-05-03T11:42:32Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Since the dead of 9/11 have nothing to do with the dead of the Iraq war, why would they read off the 9/11 dead? Um, because the _Nightline_ broadcast was to “honor” Americans that have died in the war on terror. Guess you and Teddy forgot that some have died in Afghanistan. Oh, my bad, Afghanistan is generally accepted amongst liberals. Let’s just forget about honoring them, right **Otto?** ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/56 "2004-05-03T12:19:11Z")
No, the _Nightline_ broadcast was done to honor those who died in Iraq. If this were a real “war on terror”, we would have troops fighting in Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Israel and more than a few South American and Eastern European countries. If 9-11 had anything at all to do with the skirmishes, we would go after the country the 9-11 terrorists came from and trained in. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/57 "2004-05-03T12:38:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No, the _Nightline_ broadcast was done to honor those who died in Iraq. If this were a real “war on terror”, we would have troops fighting in Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Israel and more than a few South American and Eastern European countries. If 9-11 had anything at all to do with the skirmishes, we would go after the country the 9-11 terrorists came from and trained in. Nitpick much? Give the US some time. We can only do one country at a time. Notice how South Korea promised 3,000 more troops after Spain pulled out? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/58 "2004-05-03T14:48:50Z")
This is, I hope, the last time I’ll be tempted to respond to a man who’s clearly spiralling down a vortex of his own bile. > [@Libertarian](#): > > ]Bullshit. Just because you’re co-consipirators doesn’t ameliorate the utter worthlessness of the input. Oh my God. “ **Co-conspirators**?” What the fuck? Do you sincerely think that **Johnny G** and I got together and hatched up this brilliant little scheme to uncover the rather grubby and pathetic behavior of Mr. Smith? You’re calling me a “co-conspirator” with a guy _I clearly called somewhat wrong-headed in his beliefs_? And all because someone asked for a cite and I provided it for him? Unbelievable. You’re sounding more and more like **Milum**. How long before you call me an enemy combatant? > [@](#): > > I don’t hear you railing about Clinton shooting off on his interns in the Oval Office that is owned by the shareholders called Americans. ROTFLMAO. Okay, look, dude. I know that folks like you, Republicans and conservatives alike, positively shiver with delight whenever anything related to sex is mentioned, therefore giving you the opening to bring up your very very favorite topic: Clinton’s mighty dick. You anti-Democratic types are obsessed with Bill’s penis. Even years after he’s left office, they still dream of it – nightly certainly, quite possibly during distracted moments during the day. The Presidential Member apparently haunts people like you … as does the knowledge that a president actually got fellated and STILL managed to have one of the most successful tenures ever. Thus I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’d whip Bill’s dick out again. Figuratively speaking of course – although it does seem to be the most fervent wish of Republicans and others like you to actually see Clinton’s proud shaft revealed to the world. I’m sure Kenneth Starr’s greatest regret is his inability to force the president to drop trou’ on camera. But because I hold out hope, faint as it may be, that you can be reasoned with, I’ll explain why you didn’t see me “railing about Clinton shooting off on his interns in the Oval Office that is owned by the shareholders called Americans.” I suppose I could say that one reason I didn’t mention it is that to me, the only excuse for dragging people’s private lives into discussions are when they make a habit of judging others and setting themselves up as being morally superior, inerrant human beings. That makes 'em hypocrites, don’tcha know. But most importantly, the real reason I didn’t mention Clinton’s blowjob is – now, please read carefully, 'cause I don’t wanna have to say this twice – _BECAUSE THIS TOPIC HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH BILL CLINTON, HIS MIGHTY PENIS, HIS EJACULATE, OR MONICA’S INGESTION THEREOF._ * * * **whew** , you are one exhausting human being. I’ll retire to Bedlam, as Scrooge would say. I’m still hoping you’re kidding me with this ridiculous nitpicking crap. To everyone reading this: help me out here, people – I’ve only been lurking at the Dope for a year or so. Is this guy serious, or am I being whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/59 "2004-05-03T15:22:43Z")
> [@choie](#): > > I’m still hoping you’re kidding me with this ridiculous nitpicking crap. To everyone reading this: help me out here, people – I’ve only been lurking at the Dope for a year or so. Is this guy serious, or am I being whooshed? Oh, he’s serious. Seriously fucked in the head. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842/60 "2004-05-03T15:55:52Z")
Wasn’t the Oval Office either, but a side room. But it helps sustain their dudgeon to invoke falsehoods, however minor, so maybe we just ought to let them have that one? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nightline-preemption-i-pit-the-sinclair-group/242842.md?page=4)