why media consolidation is NOT a good thing

[Donna Halper]

Okay fine, I understand we may all disagree on this, but censoring ABC 
Nightline??? How rude.  Springfield is among the markets where the show 
will not air.  Frankly, I don't get it.

  From Newsblues.com:  "...Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns 62 television 
stations and reaches approximately 24% of the nation's viewers, has ordered 
its ABC  affiliated stations not to carry tomorrow evening's "Nightline" 
episode, titled "The Fallen," which will air the names and photos of 
Americans who have died in Iraq.

Explaining the decision, Sinclair General Counsel Barry Faber said, "We 
find it to be contrary to the public interest."

Earlier, "Nightline" host Ted Koppel had expressed concern that the 
broadcast not be portrayed as a political gesture.

"We had to be careful that it could not be seen as political on our part," 
he said, adding, "I think it can be seen just as powerfully by people who 
are totally supportive of the war, as those who aren't."

The boycott will affect eight ABC affiliated Sinclair stations: KDNL St. 
Louis, WCHS Charleston, WV, WEAR Pensacola, FL, WGGB Springfield, MA, WLOS 
Asheville, NC, WSYX Columbus, OH. WTXL Tallahassee, FL, and WXLV 
Winston-Salem...  Sinclair, which has pushed a decidedly [conservative] 
agenda on its centralized "NewsCentral"  broadcasts, has a number of major 
ownership requests currently before the Republican-controlled Federal 
Communications Commission."