Dear carmen ,

Tonight, millions of Americans, many of them in crucial "swing states," will be able to tune into a "documentary" presented by Sinclair Broadcast Group. "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media," purports to be a special one-hour news program that will examine the influence of documentaries and other media on the elections and the role of the media in filtering information.  Sinclair announced plans for this new program October 19 after a firestorm of protest <http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M6590819603085839579455>    following reports that Sinclair planned to air "Stolen Honor:   Wounds That Never Heal," an "aggressively anti-Kerry documentary" on its 62 local stations just days before the election.

It remains to be seen whether Sinclair's final program, which will contain scenes from the "Stolen Honor" documentary, will be any less partisan than airing "Stolen Honor" in full.  And the question remains: How did Sinclair think it could get away with this?

The fact is, very few rules remain in place that address a broadcaster's duty to be fair.   And the government's policies have encouraged media concentration, adding to the power of media conglomerates to influence our elections.

Sinclair's action should be a wake-up call to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell.  Powell has the power to tell broadcasters that they are not the heads of fiefdoms that are unaccountable to the public.  He has the power to tell his own staff at the FCC that they should take seriously the quaint notion that the airwaves belong to the public, and - in the words of the Supreme Court - it is the "right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount."  He should be demanding that the FCC vote soon on the public interest obligations of broadcasters, something the agency has put off doing for the past five years.

And now, Big Media is getting even stronger because of new technology that lets Sinclair and every other over-the-air broadcaster create up to six channels of digital programming in the space it now uses to broadcast one analog channel.  That means that Sinclair's 62 stations will have the programming power of 372 channels!

This is a huge giveaway to broadcasters, worth billions of dollars, particularly if broadcasters get their wish and regulators require cable companies to carry all their new digital programs.  It makes their voices more powerful, and makes it even harder for dissenting voices to be heard.

Now is the time to act, before the FCC votes to give broadcasters another huge giveaway worth billions of dollars without requiring them to uphold meaningful and measurable public interest obligations so the public isn't fed a steady diet of Sinclair style "news."  The FCC must not fail us now; our democratic values are at stake.

That's why Common Cause, the Center for Digital Democracy, and Media Channel put together an Internet ad.  We want broadcasters to serve the public interest, not their own partisan or economic interests.

Here is our ad:

http://www.hmprojects.com/newgiveaway.html <http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M6590775603085839579455>   <http://www.hmprojects.com/newgiveaway.html>

Watch the ad <http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M6590824603085839579455> , and pass it on.  And please donate, so we can place this ad <http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M6590783603085839579455>    on the nation's most-watched news web sites:
 
This is one way to fight against Sinclair and all the other media giants that want the power to control what we hear, see, and think:

http://www.commoncause.org/stopFCCgiveaway <http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M6590776603085839579455>  

Thank you again for your passion and commitment for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Celia Viggo Wexler
Vice President for Advocacy, Common Cause