I watched only a few minutes of it (as the T-Wolves were clinching their playoff series on another channel at the time), though I stand by my earlier statement: I saw nothing untoward at all- just a legitimate tribute to the soldiers killed in Iraq.
What was, untoward, however, was what I saw on cable news the same night: both John Fund of the Wall Street Journal and the chairman of the Sinclair group go on MSNBC and Fox News, respectively, and make the exact same five arguments in the exact same order as to why the “Nightline” broadcast was underhanded and unpatriotic. I see somebody read the GOP talking points that morning…
Anyway, here’s an excerpt from Koppel’s speech on Friday:
I oppose the notion that to be at war is to forfeit the right to question, criticize or debate our leaders' policies, or, for that matter, the policies of those who would like to become our leaders.Nightline will continue to do all of those things in the weeks and months to come. But that is not what this broadcast was about.
Amen to that.
Posted by Stephen Silver at May 3, 2004 11:30 PM"Nightline is not reporting news; it is doing nothing more than making a political statement." This is from a letter to Sen. McCain on Sinclair's homepage (www.sbgi.net). Since when does a company have a right to censor any broadcaster, regardless of whether or not they think it is "news" or "opinion." It is equivalent to a newspaper's parent company omitting the day's editorial section. Or, more aptly, ClearChannel's ban on the Dixie Chicks last year. For shame, Sinclair.
Posted by: scully at May 4, 2004 02:05 PM