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Sinclair to Air Anti-Kerry Doc

Oct 11, 2004  •  Post A Comment

Sinclair Broadcasting has kicked up another politically charged controversy by planning to pre-empt prime-time programming on as many as 62 Sinclair-owned or -operated stations to run a documentary critical of the Vietnam-era antiwar activities of Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic challenger to President Bush, shortly before the Nov. 2 presidential election.

The station group, known for its conservative views and comfortable displaying its political tilt, reaches nearly one-quarter of the homes in the American TV universe, some of them in swing states.

“Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal,” as the documentary is titled, includes comments from two men who appeared in an anti-Kerry commercial run by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the summer.

Last spring an uproar was prompted by Sinclair’s decision to pre-empt an edition of “Nightline” memorializing Americans killed in the war on Iraq and substitute a Sinclair-produced program on Sinclair-owned ABC affiliates.

Sinclair executives could not be reached Monday.