# Sinclair Broadcasting Mandates airing of Anti-Kerry film
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [October 11, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670 "2004-10-11T17:21:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/21 "2004-10-12T05:00:06Z")
Here’re the 2004 winners not included in the winners book.
[**63rd Annual Peabody Awards Winners**](http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=97)
March 31, 2004
I encourage concerned citizens to write and call and express you outrage that Mr. Sherwood’s name was indavertently left off of the Peabody winners lists.
Contact: Eric Holder, Peabody Awards Public Relations,
706-542-8983 or 706-255-6437, eholder@uga.edu
---
### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/22 "2004-10-12T05:07:37Z")
According to [Disinfopedia](http://http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Carlton_Sherwood)
> [@](#):
>
> Searching [http://www.pulitzer.org](http://www.pulitzer.org) fails to find any individual Pulizer prizes Carlton Sherwood has won. However, the Wikipedia article on Carlton Sherwood explains that he was part of the Gannett News Service, and won the award as part of that team in 1980.
If you don’t believe that, I’m sure that Mr. Sherwood has X-Rays of the shrapnel in his butt which prove he was under fire that day. 😉
---
### Author:  [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/23 "2004-10-12T05:22:12Z")
I’ve written to Mr. Holden at UGA. Hopefully he’ll be able to shed some light on the absence of Mr. Sherwood’s name on the lists of Peabody award winners.
---
### Author:  [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/24 "2004-10-12T05:46:59Z")
From **Squink’s** cite:
> [@](#):
>
> However, the Wikipedia article on Carlton Sherwood explains that he was part of the Gannett News Service, and won the award as part of that team in 1980.
OK. So as one of my workmates, I believe, has worked with the UNHCR, she is able to claim to have won a Nobel Peace Prize?
---
### Author:  [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/25 "2004-10-12T14:22:41Z")
Dear Mr. Moon:
Carlton Sherwood was a member of a team whose work was awarded the
1980 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service.
The Public Service prize differs from the other 13 journalism prizes
in that it is always awarded to a newspaper (or news service) rather
than an individual. The 1980 Public Service prize was awarded to
Gannett News Service, and Mr. Sherwood and two other reporters were
named in the press release as authors of the prizewinning work.
Sincerely,
Claudia Weissberg
* * *
Claudia Stone Weissberg
Website Manager
The Pulitzer Prizes
709 Journalism
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027 USA
212-854-3841
---
### Author:  [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/26 "2004-10-12T15:28:57Z")
Mr. Sherwood’s Peabody was for this:
Year: 1982
Title: Oklahoma Shame
Producing Organization(s): KOCO-TV
City/State: Oklahoma City Oklahoma
```
A unique cooperative effort between print and broadcast journalists in Oklahoma brought to light a shocking and sordid story of abuses, neglect, and questionable deaths in homes for the mentally retarded in that state operated by the Department of Human Services. The resulting on-the-air reports were not pretty, were not entertaining, and were not designed to be taken lightly by viewers. The reports were thorough, well-documented, and powerful in their impact. Ultimately, key resignations followed and a long process toward rectifying some of the abuses of the past was begun. For undertaking a tough task which resulted in important and tangible results, a Peabody Award to KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City for “Oklahoma Shame.”
```
---
### Author:  [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/27 "2004-10-12T15:37:12Z")
Sorry **luci**.
Better luck next time.
---
### Author:  [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/28 "2004-10-12T17:23:44Z")
> [@Evil One](#):
>
> They are alienating nearly half of their viewing audience and giving away the credibility of their news departments. Bush is going to win without this effort from them. I don’t see any upside whatsoever for them doing it.
Well, it seems that \*they \* aren’t so sure Bush is going to win without this effort from them. (Otherwise they wouldn’t do it, right?)
So, in a sense, this is good news for Kerry because it means he has a real chance of winning.
---
### Author:  [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/29 "2004-10-12T17:40:37Z")
I have already contacted several advertisers on Sinclair Broadcasting Group to express my feelings on this. There is a database of advertisers that can be found here:
[http://www.boycottsbg.com/advertisers/default.aspx](http://www.boycottsbg.com/advertisers/default.aspx)
One might also contact any SBG stations in their local market to tell their sales manager that they are going to get in touch with their local advertisers.
---
### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/30 "2004-10-12T17:43:17Z")
> [@Polerius](#):
>
> Well, it seems that \*they \* aren’t so sure Bush is going to win without this effort from them. (Otherwise they wouldn’t do it, right?)
>
> So, in a sense, this is good news for Kerry because it means he has a real chance of winning.
Bah! If Bush ran an obstacle course against Helen Keller, he’d still send Karl Rove out to break her knees.
What Republican hypocrisy. CBS planned to show a movie that didn’t gush over St. Reagan- pressure the advertisers and get CBS to dump off to Showtime. And that show had no potential impact on any election. Yet somehow it’s OK for a patently partisan schlockumentary to air right before an election.
---
### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/31 "2004-10-12T18:39:22Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Sinclair Broadcasting _ **Mandates** _ airing of Anti-Kerry film
Though I agree this is a bad idea and likely to backfire on Sinclair, I do think your title is very misleading. This is a private company deciding to broadcast a show on their own stations. Nothing is being mandated. If ABC made them do it then you can say ABC mandates film be shown by affiliates. I know, its a nitpick.
> [@](#):
>
> man·date ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mndt)
> n.
> An authoritative command or instruction.
> A command or an authorization given by a political electorate to its representative.
>
> A commission from the League of Nations authorizing a member nation to administer a territory.
> A region under such administration.
> Law.
> An order issued by a superior court or an official to a lower court.
> A contract by which one party agrees to perform services for another without payment
---
### Author:  [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/32 "2004-10-12T18:56:42Z")
We may not get to see that show here. Sinclair doesn’t have any stations in Chicago. Of course, somebody else may elect to run it.
---
### Author:  [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/33 "2004-10-12T19:01:44Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> Though I agree this is a bad idea and likely to backfire on Sinclair, I do think your title is very misleading. This is a private company deciding to broadcast a show on their own stations. Nothing is being mandated. If ABC made them do it then you can say ABC mandates film be shown by affiliates. I know, its a nitpick.
And it’s a bad nitpick. From the article referenced in the OP:
> [@CNNMoney](#):
>
> Sinclair has ordered all 62 of its stations to air “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” without commercials in prime-time next week, the Washington Post reported, just two weeks before the Nov. 2 election.
Emphasis added.
It was an “an authoritative command or instruction” from the parent company to the general managers of their stations.
---
### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/34 "2004-10-12T19:21:29Z")
Sinclair Ventures, Inc. (wholly owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.) is a primary investor in [Jadoo Power Systems, Inc](http://www.jadoopower.com/investor.html)., a company that was [“Awarded Military Development Contract by US Special Operations Command”](http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/09-28-2004/0002260384&EDATE+) on September 28, 2004.
This stinks. I’m not surprised.
> [@Evil One](#):
>
> ABC and CBS have shown their hands, Rjung. This might be an attempt to “even the score”…but it’s not a smart move.
Regarding CBS, while they were wrong to show the documents (where did they come from? I hope we find out), the **CONTENTS of the documents are true** , as [confirmed by Killian’s secretary](http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/cbsstatement.pdf), even if those specific papers are faked. People forget that thanks to the Republican Noise Machine that insists the entire story be tainted and thrown out because one part of it has questions surrounding it.
Regarding ABC, as Mr2001 said they’re “the people who dare to consider the possibility that one candidate’s campaigning might be more or less truthful than the other’s.” Good for them and it’s about time someone said it.
---
### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/35 "2004-10-12T19:27:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Sinclair has ordered all 62 of its stations to air “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” without commercials in prime-time next week, the Washington Post reported, just two weeks before the Nov. 2 election.
Yes but they own all the stations. The word mandate implies they are imposing their will on unwilling stations. The stations have no free will they are part of the same entity. “Sinclair Broadcasting to air Anti-Kerry film” would get the point across without the misleading word.
---
### Author:  [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/36 "2004-10-12T20:07:09Z")
Mandate is a perfectly appropriate word. Are you trying to say that this is not an “authoratative command”? Are you saying that Sinclair is not going “to make mandatory : ORDER; also : DIRECT, REQUIRE” (from m-w-.com)?
The fact that they have the right to mandate something to the stations they own doesn’t change the appropriateness of the term.
Also, I don’t agree with your presumption that they are not imposing their will on unwilling stations. These stations certainly have some sort of autonomy, and I expect that at least a few are against airing the show or being forced to air it at a certain date and time.
---
### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/37 "2004-10-12T20:42:45Z")
Sure if you want to say they are ordering themselves as a corporate entity to do something. That is like saying “Loach mandates he write this post”. I’m not really ordering myself to reply I am just doing it. Of course there are some people at the stations who won’t like it. However, all the stations are part of a private company. They _are_ the company and as such have no free will other than what the head office says. By definition the title may be correct but the connotation is that someone is being forced to run the program. That is not the case.
---
### Author:  [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/38 "2004-10-12T22:37:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> 40 minute documentary titled “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal”
So, this is a documentary, right? Like that other ‘documentary,’ “Farenheit 9/11?”
Sounds like whining to me. Shouldn’t this be in the Pit?
---
### Author:  [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/39 "2004-10-12T23:00:30Z")
> [@SnakeSpirit](#):
>
> So, this is a documentary, right? Like that other ‘documentary,’ “Farenheit 9/11?”
Fahrenheit 9/11 has not been shown over the public airwaves, and does not violate federal election laws.
This story is [getting bigger](http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-10-11-sinclair_x.htm):
> [@](#):
>
> NEW YORK — Wall Streeters, political activists and media critics Monday were trying to answer a perplexing question: Why would Sinclair Broadcasting CEO David Smith embroil himself in controversy by ordering his stations to air Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal— a documentary challenging Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam service — within days of the presidential election?
>
> The decision annoyed investors. Sinclair’s shares, which have lost about half their value in 2004, closed Monday at $7.38, down 12 cents. That’s about as low as they’ve been since 1995.
>
> “I don’t want my media companies that cover the news to be making news,” says Barry Lucas of Gabelli & Co., which owns about 4% of Sinclair.
---
### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670/40 "2004-10-12T23:24:40Z")
Apparently the swiftie 527 is allowing Sinclair to air the program for free, and Sinclair is not charging the swifties to show it. What’s the legal deal on nonprofit groups, or individuals for that matter, gifting a for profit corporation with valuable goods like this? I seem to recall that the Chicago Reader had objections to Dopers offering to supply them with a free server. How does the Sinclair situation differ from that?
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670.md?page=1)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sinclair-broadcasting-mandates-airing-of-anti-kerry-film/268670.md?page=3)