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Contributors
Cliff Kincaid- Contributor
Cliff Kincaid, serves as editor of the Accuracy
in Media (AIM)
Report. A veteran journalist and media critic, Cliff has
appeared on the Fox News programs Hannity & Colmes and
The O'Reilly Factor, where he debated O'Reilly on global
warming, the death penalty,
and the homosexual agenda. He was a guest co-host on CNN's Crossfire
(filling in for Pat Buchanan) in the 1980s, where he confronted
the then-Libyan Ambassador to the U.N. with evidence of Libyan
involvement in international terrorism. Through his America's
Survival, Inc., organization (www.usasurvival.org), he has been
an advocate on behalf of the families of victims of terrorism
and has published reports and held conferences critical of the
United Nations. His articles have appeared in the Washington
Post, Washington Times, Chronicles, Human Events, Insight, and
other publications. He served on the staff of Human Events for
several years and was an editorial writer and newsletter editor
for former National Security Council staffer Oliver North at
his Freedom Alliance educational foundation. He has written or
co-authored nine books on media and cultural affairs and foreign
policy issues. Cliff is married and has three sons.[go to
Kincaid index]
 Sinclair
vs. Sundance
The media take sides…
[Cliff Kincaid] 10/13/04
On the same
day that Democratic Senators were writing a letter seeking
a federal
probe of Sinclair Broadcasting’s plan
to air a 90-minute anti-Kerry film two weeks before election
day, a CBS sister network, the Sundance Channel, was airing five
hours—315 minutes—of the “Vote for Change” anti-Bush
rock concert in Washington, D.C. I didn’t hear a peep of
protest about that.
The next day, the
Washington Post showed its priorities by running a story about
Sinclair’s decision on page one and a story
about Sundance airing the anti-Bush concert back in the third
section. The Sinclair decision was considered an earth-shattering
event, throwing into doubt the fairness and balance of the media!
Five hours on Sundance, by contrast, were just “entertainment.” The
Post story noted in passing that, “People who were shut
out could watch the show live on the Sundance Channel or hear
the broadcast on more than 60 radio stations.” So here
we had TV and radio in the Kerry camp but no words of concern
from the Post or any other liberal news outlet.
The lesson: it’s perfectly acceptable to broadcast an
anti-Bush concert but it’s illegitimate to air a documentary
showing how Vietnam veterans and former POWs are disgusted by
John Kerry branding them as war criminals.
Sundance, a sister
network to CBS and owned by Viacom, also aired National
Anthem, a film about the “Vote
for Change” concert tour, as part of the five hours devoted
to the concert.
Sundance is also airing Uncovered:
The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, an anti-Bush film
by Robert Greenwald. It features Joe Wilson, the discredited
ambassador and Kerry adviser
who emerged as a critic of the Bush administration on its Iraq
policy.
But that’s not all. Sundance has been airing anti-Bush
activist Al Franken’s radio show. Sundance describes one
show this way: “In Florida on the last stop on their swing
state tour, Al and Katherine talk to the original Deaniac Joe
Trippi. Also, Florida Congressman Robert Wexler, New Democrat
Joe Garcia and Jan Schneider who is taking on Katherine Harris
in this year’s congressional contest.”
So here we have a
blatant case of Sundance showing Franken’s
radio show for the specific purpose of helping the Democratic
Party win on November 2. But there’s no outrage from the
Washington Post or other media over that.
On top of this, on
October 23 and 26, Sundance will air Michael Moore’s
film, Bowling for Columbine, a deeply flawed attack on the
right to keep and bear arms.
On CNN, correspondent
Wolf Blitzer noted that the concert tour was “designed to boost Democratic hopes in next month’s
election” and that “Vote for Change” concerts
had been held in several states already. But he had no problem
with that. In fact, like a groupie behind stage, he interviewed
Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band, who declared that the
country “frightens me” under Bush and that the President
is “two-faced” on the environment and “very
much favors the top income brackets…”
Blitzer’s “tough” follow-up question: “So
it’s not just the war in Iraq?”
No, Matthews said, “…there are so many other things
that have piled onto the—piled onto that—on top of
that, make me think that it’s a very important time to
stand up and say what you think…” It’s no wonder
Laura Ingraham wrote a book about left-wing celebrities entitled,
Shut Up & Sing.
Incredibly, later
on CNN, anchor Miles O’Brien returned
to the subject—not of the anti-Bush rock concert but Sinclair
Broadcasting. “With little more than three weeks to election
day,” he said, “the media, its fairness—or
perceived lack of it—is once again stirring debate…”
If O’Brien wants
an example of true one-sidedness, he should watch Real Time
with Bill Maher on the HBO channel that
joins CNN as part of the Time Warner empire. Every Friday night,
Maher specializes in jokes about Bush, mocking him to the point
of making the President into a target of hatred. And while Maher
occasionally features conservative guests, his heart is with
those on the left, such as Michael Moore.
The one-sided and orchestrated attack on Sinclair, now joined
by liberal Democratic Senators and the Democratic National Committee,
demonstrates the reality of a fanatical liberal mentality that
simply does not and will not tolerate opposing views.
It’s to be
expected that the Democratic Party would ignore the significance
of Sundance or HBO making contributions to the
Kerry campaign. But for the major media to ignore all of this
and focus on Sinclair is just one more indication that they have
openly taken sides in the campaign as well. CRO
copyright
2004 Accuracy in Media
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