By-For-Of The People

Sinclair Broadcast Group Advertisers - BOYCOTT

Message from Carol Norris -- peace activist extraordinaire, CODEPINK renegade, asset to our country: As you may or may not know, Sinclair Broadcasting, with close ties to the Bush administration, and who reaches more than 1 in 4 TV viewers across the country, is forcing its affiliates nationwide (yes, forcing) to air an anti-Kerry program the day before the election - to keep the negative image fresh in voters' minds as they go to the polls, with no opportunity for rebuttal or another opinion. Sadly, this could really influence a mess o' folks. We forget/were never taught that the airwaves are owned by you and me - the public. Broadcasters do not have the right to air blatantly partisan programs at their whim. They bank (literally) on us not taking an active role in what we own. The FCC is supposed to police this stuff. But, it is filled with Bushies and is doing an abysmal job. So, it's up to us, folks, like it or not.

In any event, there are big calls to action to contact Sinclair and give 'em what for. In fact, *the best way to get the message across to Sinclair is to boycott their advertisers (but you have to let the advertisers know you are doing this!)* (Ideally, you'd let Sinclair and the media know you are doing this, but I won't push my luck!) TV is about selling eyeballs and wallets to advertisers, not about providing good shows to viewers or imparting news. (Sadly, I have a discarded master's degree in all this crap and did this stuff for a while, so I really know what I'm talking about.) So, if you hit them in their wallets (ie. pulled advertising dollars), believe me, they'll respond. There are myriad effective boycott stories. The following is a link that will let you see what Sinclair affiliates are in your area and then who advertises with them. If there isn't an affiliate close by, pick the closest and call/email. Be sure to send this around to your friends. [Be direct, but civil. Being rude will do more harm than good.]

Yeah, you're busy. But, if you do these little 2 minute things, regardless of the outcome of the election, you can look back and know you really did something to try and make a difference. But, this is really about much more than the election. I think they call it Democracy...

Peace, Carol

posted by David @ 11:04 PM