I hope this has not been discussed already. I couldn't find it on a search.
Apparently, Sinclair Broadcasting - which owns many ABC affiliates - ordered their affiliates to not air "Nightline" on Friday night because Ted Koppel was going to read the names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
Here is their reasoning
Quote:
ABC Nightline Pre-emption
The ABC Television Network announced on Tuesday that the Friday, April 30 edition of "Nightline" will consist entirely of Ted Koppel reading aloud the names of U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq. Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show, the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.
There is no organization that holds the members of our military and those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in service of our country in higher regard than Sinclair Broadcast Group. While Sinclair would support an honest effort to honor the memory of these brave soldiers, we do not believe that is what "Nightline" is doing. Rather, Mr. Koppel and "Nightline" are hiding behind this so-called tribute in an effort to highlight only one aspect of the war effort and in doing so to influence public opinion against the military action in Iraq. Based on published reports, we are aware of the spouse of one soldier who died in Iraq who opposes the reading of her husband's name to oppose our military action. We suspect she is not alone in this viewpoint. As a result, we have decided to preempt the broadcast of "Nightline' this Friday on each of our stations which air ABC programming.
We understand that our decision in this matter may be questioned by some. Before you judge our decision, however, we would ask that you first question Mr. Koppel as to why he chose to read the names of 523 troops killed in combat in Iraq, rather than the names of the thousands of private citizens killed in terrorist attacks since and including the events of September 11, 2001. In his answer, we believe you will find the real motivation behind his action scheduled for this Friday. Unfortunately, we may never know for sure because Mr. Koppel has refused repeated requests from Sinclair's News Central news organization to comment on this Friday's program.
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Naturally, there has been quite an uproar over their decision.
I disagree with their actions. I believe their decision is just as politically motivated as they claim Koppel's to be. Sinclair Broadcasting has given more than $65,000 to Bush's campaign compared to $1,500 given to Democrats.
The constitution states that Congress may pass no law abridging the freedom of the press. What about the power of corporations to prevent the dissemination of information?
What's your take?