Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 1:44 AM
Subject: Boycott Sinclair Advertisers
Hello Friends,
Cyberspace is abuzz with the latest outrageous partisan abuse of our airways. Sinclair Broadcasting, the same company that refused to air Ted Koppel's moving and respectful tribute to Americans killed in Iraq, plans to air "Stolen Honor," a film about John Kerry's anti-war activities after his service in Vietnam. This anti-Kerry propaganda movie is being forced on Sinclair's affiliates by their right-wing executives, and the stations have been asked to preempt regular programming to air it commercial-free before Election Day.
It will come as no surprise to find
out that Sinclair execs are big supporters of Republican causes, and
that their CEO has maxed out to Bush-Cheney '04.
WGME, Channel 13, plans to air the
hour-long program on October 23rd. That leaves a little bit of time for
all of us to register our disgust and organize an effective response.
What can we do? Lots of
people have already called and emailed the general manager and news director,
and I've included that information at the end of this message. There is
also a petition to sign, courtesy of the Democratic Party (which has also filed
a lawsuit), and I've included a link so you can sign it.
The most effective thing we can do is to stage a boycott of Sinclair's advertisers. It is as simple as finding out who the advertisers are and calling, writing or stopping in to let them know we will not be buying their products or services because of the partisan activities of Sinclair Broadcasting. There are a lot of us out there who care about having responsible media, and we can let these local businesses know that their advertising dollars are supporting offensive partisan programming. The advertisers themselves are the best ones to deliver the message to Sinclair Broadcasting, and you can be sure they will if they know their advertising will cost them customers.
Please make an effort to do this --
it will be very powerful.
Here is a partial list of
advertisers to get you started. I've highlighted two of them here and
suggest we ALL contact them, but I hope you'll look through the list and
pick a couple of others, too. Contact each business by phone, email or in
person and let them know there are other supermarkets, doughnut shops, car
dealers, etc. where you can and will take your
business.
And here is a website
where you can find and add more advertisers: http://www.boycottsbg.com/advertisers/default.aspx?MarketID=127.
Watch Channel 13, write down the advertisers, and log them in so that others can
see which businesses they need to contact. If you don't have any luck with
the link, email your findings to Keith Bubblo at keithB1210@aol.com, and Keith will compile
a list to share. The most important advertisers will be found at the
following times: 5-7am, noon, 5, 5:30, 6 and 11pm.
One more thing... please make a call to let WGME know what you are doing. Dial 797-1313 and ask for Don Barr, WGME's sales manager. Tell him that you are going to boycott advertisers, and that you intend to let individual advertisers know this.
Tell everyone you know to do the
same. Time is short, but working together, we will make a big
difference.
All the best,
---------------------------------------------------------
Other actions to
take:
Register your protest directly to
the station -- call or write Alan Cartwright, General Manager - acartwright@wgme.sbgnet.com and Dave Kaplar, News Director - dkaplar@wgme.sbgnet.com. The
phone number is 797-1313. Let them know the right-wing bias is
inexcusable, and be polite because these folks are NOT the
chief executives of the company. They may not agree at all with
Sinclair policy.
Click here
(http://www.democrats.org/action/200410120001.html)
to sign the Democratic Party petition demanding that Sinclair take
their negative smears off the air.
From mainetoday.com
10/12/04:
Anti-Kerry documentary to air on
WGME
The Democratic Party and 18 senators are objecting to a broadcasting company's plan to air on 62 TV stations a critical documentary about John Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned home from Vietnam three decades ago.
Sinclair Broadcast Group has asked its television stations - many of them in competitive states in the presidential election - to pre-empt regular programming to run the documentary as part of an hour-long program two weeks before the Nov. 2 election.
Based near Baltimore, the company owns or manages affiliates of major broadcast networks in several states, including Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania.
In Maine, a battleground state, Sinclair owns WGME-TV in Portland, which plans to air the documentary on Saturday, Oct. 23, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The Associated Press
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