Rep. Slaughter to Sinclair: Williams Must Go

[NVMojo]

WILLIAMS INCIDENT MAKES THE CASE FOR THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE



Washington, DC. Today, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and long-time advocate for the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine, sent a letter to David D. Smith, Chief Executive of the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, and Johnathan Rodgers, Chief Executive of TV ONE, demanding that their contracts with syndicated broadcaster Armstrong Williams be terminated immediately.

As reported in today’s USA Today, Williams was allegedly paid $240,000 by the Bush Administration to discuss the No Child Left Behind program in a favorable light as a regular part of his radio and television broadcasts on stations owned by the two broadcast groups.

Slaughter noted in her letter that if the Fairness Doctrine were still in place, this type of deception would not be possible. The Federal Communications Commission repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, which required radio and television stations to air all sides of important or controversial issues.

more...

http://www.slaughter.house.gov/HoR/Louise/News/Press+Releases+By+Date/2005+Press+Releases/01-07-05.htm

[cornermouse]

1. Call it what it is. An abuse of power.

[xchrom]

2. indeed.

[Jawja]

12. I seem to recall

several billion dollars earmarked for Iraq being unaccounted for. Am I wrong?

Perhaps the money went into a re-election slush fund that paid off a "coalition of the willing" in the media, in voter registration drives that destroyed Democratic entries, in poll workers, in programmers, and in a Secretary of State or two?

Just asking.

[cornermouse]

14. It does make you wonder who....er, what it bought,

doesn't it? It would also be nice if the democratic party decided to do a little looking into where the money went.

[Petrushka]

3. Hooray for another woman doing a [cough] man's job! (eom)

[Drifter]

8. Amen ... shes my Rep.

Great lady. I love her slight southern belle accent. She was on the Ed Schultz show yesterday.

Cheers
Drifter

[Cooley Hurd]

4. The fairness doctrine will never be reinstated under a repug admin...

They would lose three-quarters of their stranglehold on the media - which, incidentally, is their greatest strength.

[hollowdweller]

13. But Fairness would make a good letter writing cause for us and a good

issue for the dems. Easy to understand for the public

[LosinIt]

5. You go Louise!

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. Williams had contracts with TV One?

Isn't that the special channel that they pipe into all the public schools?

Can you say government controlled propaganda, when the WH is paying this guy to deliver their message to school children?

[NVMojo]

7. Dang, that was ballsy of them!!!!! Keerhist!!!!

:argh:

[wndycty]

9. TV One is a Black cable network. . .

. . .and they have suspended his show pending an investigation.

-snip-
His other show, "On Point" -- on which Williams interviewed Paige last year, as well as Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) -- is carried by TV One, a Silver Spring-based network aimed at African Americans. Williams said he had disclosed his contract to TV One, but chief executive Johnathon Rodgers said the network knew nothing about it and has taken the show off the air while it investigates.

"As a former journalist, I'm bothered by things like this -- people being in the pay of various political groups and pressing their messages without a declaration," Rodgers said.
-snip-

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&u=/washpost/20050108/ts_washpost/a56330_2005jan7&printer=1

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. I was thinking of Channel One

thanks for clarifying.

[SemperEadem]

23. you're thinking of Channel One

[Cheswick2.0]

10. I makes you wonder what other pundits the white house has been paying

huh? Rush, Hannity?

[maddezmom]

11. Novak?

[PA Democrat]

16. Check out this text from Congresswoman Slaughter's letter to

Smith and Rodgers:

With the free broadcast licenses you hold comes an unbreakable obligation to serve the public interest. In fact, the Communications Act of 1934 calls upon the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and broadcast licensees to promote the "public interest"-- some 40 times. Simply put, because broadcasters receive free licenses to use the public's airways – estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars—they have an obligation to uphold the public's interest, and to adequately and accurately inform the public about news and opinion.

Mr. Armstrong clearly breached that implicit contract by not disclosing his monetary gain from influencing the public debate on a matter of national importance. Unless you relieve Mr. Armstrong of his broadcast responsibilities, you will be complicit in that breach of contract and quite possibly, federal law.

The law requires broadcasters to disclose when subject matter is being broadcast "in exchange for money, service or other valuable consideration"(47 U.S.C. § 317). Any individual who accepts payment without making this disclosure violates federal law and is subject to a maximum penalty of $10,000 in fines and a year in prison (47 U.S.C. § 508).

http://www.slaughter.house.gov/HoR/Louise/News/Press+Releases+By+Date/2005+Press+Releases/01-07-05.htm

Wow! Sounds like Armstrong could spend a year in prison for not disclosing the fact that he was being paid to promote NCLB.

[AlbizuX]

18. i hope one Prosecutor runs with this...

there's evidence, admission, motive, etc.

All you need to prosecute this man...MOVE.

By the way, did anyone else notice Rep. Slaughter's website address.

www.SLAUGHTER.HOUSE.gov?

hahahahaha, nice!

[AlbizuX]

17. Go get him, Rep. Slaughter

Karma's a biatch, huh Armstrong?

[NNN0LHI]

19. Rush gets his payoff by not being in the slammer already

He don't need the money.

Don

[MasonJar]

20. Why Williams? Why not GWB? The government used my money

to do something totally unethical. I think Sinclair should also go?

[maseman]

21. Need an Elliot Spitzer

What we need is an Elliot Spitzer type figure to really take this case. I would expose this story ten-fold. And the RETHUGS ripped Dan Rather a new one for one fact missing in one story? This story trumps anything that Rather did.

I'd like to see Novak and Carlson brought down? HUMMMM...Carlson WAS just fired from CNN this week was he not?

[Rainscents]

22. Democrats Need...

Primetime TV station of their own... I wish some rich Democrat would buy one TV station so we can have our liberal station to watch all day long!

[Skittles]

24. well, he went. NEXT?

get 'em one by one

[leesa]

25. I want to know how much O'Reilly and Hannity are paid to shill for the WH.

And all of the other "reporters" who have been complicit in the treason of the Bush maladministration.