FCC rejects probe of plans to air anti-Kerry program 'Stolen Horror'

By David Folkenflik of The Baltimore Sun

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has rejected calls by congressional Democrats that he investigate Sinclair Broadcast Group's plans to air a program blaming Sen. John Kerry's antiwar activism three decades ago for prolonging the torture of U.S. prisoners of war in Vietnam.

At least 20 senators and 85 representatives—all Democrats—asked the FCC to investigate whether plans to run a program on all 62 Sinclair stations based on the anti-Kerry documentary “Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal” amounted to an abuse of the public airwaves. The Democratic lawmakers charge the show could break guidelines calling for broadcast channels to grant equal time to competing candidates.

Thursday, FCC Chairman Michael Powell dismissed the idea of any such move before the show appears. “There is no rule that I'm aware of that would allow the commission—nor would it be prudent—to prevent the airing of a program,'' Powell, a Republican, told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “I think that would be an absolute disservice to the First Amendment, and I think it would be unconstitutional.” The FCC typically waits until programs have been broadcast to investigate their content.

Mark Hyman, Sinclair's vice president for corporate relations, hailed Powell's statement. “We applaud the FCC chairman for his defense of the First Amendment in the face of intense political pressure,” said Hyman, who also contributes daily conservative commentaries to more than 40 Sinclair stations.

But Reed Hundt, a former Democratic FCC chairman under President Clinton, said Powell was merely providing cover for a political ally. “This is part of the Republican slime machine,” Hundt said Thursday.

“Everybody knows exactly what is happening here.” Powell should have used his bully pulpit to warn Sinclair against using its stations to slam Kerry so close to Election Day, Hundt said.

Powell was appointed to the commission chairmanship in January 2001 by President Bush, who faces Kerry in the general election next month. He also has close ties to the Bush White House. Powell, a former aide to then-Defense Secretary (now Vice President) Dick Cheney, is the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“Stolen Honor” was made by Carlton Sherwood, a Vietnam War veteran and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who was subsequently forced out of a television job after an investigative story on the group behind the Vietnam War Memorial came under sharp attack. He later worked at The Washington Times and held a state office under former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, now Bush's secretary of Homeland Security.

In 1971, Kerry returned from Vietnam and described atrocities committed by some U.S. troops in Vietnam as he publicly questioned the basis of the war in testimony before congressional committees.

Among many veterans, it stirred long-lasting resentment. In the documentary, former prisoners say their North Vietnamese captors used Kerry's statements as part of their torture.

Groups have sprung up to protest Sinclair's decision, and they appear to have influenced some advertisers' plans. Clive Cashman, a spokesman for the furniture and home decor merchandiser IKEA, issued this statement: “We have instructed our national advertising agency to contact Sinclair Broadcasting Group to ensure that our ads do not run during any show that has political bias.”

Hyman said his company is resolute about running the program.