Statement to Sinclair: Clock Ticking, Public Still Demand Balance to Partisan Airing Of '

Andy and Deborah Rappaport Statement to Sinclair: Clock Ticking, Public Still Demand Balance to Partisan Airing Of 'Stolen Honor'

10/20/2004 1:54:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Trevor FitzGibbon, 202-822-5200

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement from Andy and Deborah Rappaport concerning their offer to Sinclair Broadcasting Group to air "Going Upriver" as a counterbalance to "Stolen Honor:"

Sinclair may have blinked under overwhelmingly public pressure in its decision to air "Stolen Honor" in its entirety, but Sinclair has not pulled the wool over our eyes. We can clearly see that Sinclair's intent remains to make sure its viewers see material from the overtly partisan "Stolen Honor" without offering any effort to balance the presentation. Sinclair's timing of this broadcast is unprecedented and deserves questioning. Sinclair may try to hide under the umbrella of "news" coverage, but saying that "Stolen Honor" is legitimate news is equivalent to saying that "West Wing" is a weekly news program. Sinclair should stop violating the public trust and come clean with its audience. Either provide balance or move its so-called "news" program to after the Election.

The clock is ticking. We extended a fair business offer in good faith yesterday to Sinclair's CEO and Board of Directors to air the critically acclaimed "Going Upriver" as an effort to balance their decision to broadcast material from "Stolen Honor" without response. While Sinclair has obviously had its hands full attempting to calm down its shareholders and address the serious legal issues raised by its proposed broadcast, we have asked for a decision by 1 pm this afternoon and do not consider Sinclair's actions of late yesterday sufficient to allay concerns or eliminate the basis for our original offer. We eagerly await their decision, as do all citizens concerned about fair and balanced election coverage. And we imagine that their already concerned shareholders will want to know why they have not responded to a very lucrative business offer.