WAVE 3 TV - Louisville, KY - Runs Hit Piece on Michael Moore

[Roland99]

My local NBC affiliate has been running a hit piece on Michael Moore this week. Why, I really have no idea. It's ratings month, though, right?

The reporter, Eric Flack, isn't very well-liked in this town and now the station is running this "Special Report" that interviews people calling Moore a liar and works to debunk Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 by showing the parts that Moore took out of context (which, admittedly, he has done that in a few parts). The "reporter" states he's tried to contact Moore by appearing at his "$2 million house" when Moore wasn't there and trying for a month to get a response via email.

It's a complete and utter character assassination piece! I really don't know how to word a letter to the station (which will be copied to the FCC and to Media Matters). I'm just dumbfounded that they've done this.

What I can't understand is:

1) How is this news?
2) Why is this worthy of a "Special Report"?



Part 1
Michael Moore's Hometown Feels Betrayed, Scorned
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2928401

Part 2
Some Say Michael Moore Omits Facts, Distorts Truth
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2934376

There's a link to the video clip there, too.


"Some say"...interesting phrasing. Anyone seen Outfoxed?


Online Reporter: Eric Flack
[e-mail]

Online Producer: Michael Dever
[e-mail]



WAVE 3 Television
725 S. Floyd Street
Louisville, KY 40203
502 585-2201 (main)
502 561-4115 (fax)



Apparently the news director is a Bush-God fanboi that hates Michael Moore.

[Warpy]

1. Write a letter, send it snail mail

and tell them this this type of nonsense on a news program does not serve the public interest and that you will remember it when the time to renew their broadcast license comes around.

Mention that if they'd like to devote air time to infotainment and casual character assassination, they are free to do so as long as it is labeled as such. Pushing political propaganda as news serves no one but the propagandist.

Then follow through with a copy of the letter to the FCC. Remember, you're creating a paper trail here, not expecting immediate action.

[Roland99]

2. I just sent this via email (CC'ed FCC and LibertyCorp - WAVE parent)

Good afternoon.

First, I just want to say you have lost a long-time WAVE 3 viewer.

I am truly at a loss for words as to how WAVE 3 decided this "Special Report" needed to be done and broadcast during the week of Feb. 7, 2005. With the hypocrisy and deception being waged by the Bush administration (esp. now that news is out of the planted "reporter" James Guckert, aka Jeff Gannon, who had access to classified CIA documents), one would think WAVE 3 could actually produce a news segment that contained actual news! This "Special Report" had one motive, to defame Michael Moore. Even your headline of Part 2 of 2 "Some Say Michael Moore Omits Facts, Distorts Truth" is straight out of Roger Aile's FOX News playbook. The phrase "Some say" is a convenient way to interject opinion and subjectivity into what should be a completely objective newscast.

As it stands, WAVE 3 has fallen into lock-step with the right-wing propaganda machine and is proferring infotainment in lieu of news. WAVE 3 has become that which was decried by Jon Stewart in his recent interview on C-SPAN re: the paucity of responsibility in the media to hold our government and corporations accountable for their actions and their statements.

I realize this is ratings month but is the dollar held in higher esteem by WAVE 3 than the truth? From my viewpoint, that is most certainly the case. And it most certainly must be in violation of your FCC license to broadcast such blatant personal attacks.

Do you want to create a true "Special Report"? Why not focus on how the Bush administration has destroyed decades' worth of work by environmental groups and previous administrations in favor of corporate lobbyists? Or, how about working to uncover the propaganda being spread now about Iran. The same rhetoric that led to the unjust Iraq invasion is now being spread about Iran. Can you say, draft? How about a "Special Report" that hits home, focus on how developers in this area are dead-set on urban sprawl before the roadways are upgraded. Ever drive down KY 146 or KY 22 at rush hour?

Stop being a part of the problem with today's media and start being an actual *news* channel.

Regretfully yours,

[skippythwndrdog]

3. Interesting, using propaganda to discredit propaganda.

How entertaining. Will the madness ever end?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

4. and what is a louisville reporter doing in flint, MI

nothing going on locally, i guess?

send it to FAIR.org as well. This is an NBC affiliate and the network needs to be held accountable.

Amazing how no one in Flint wanted to talk nicely about Moore, isn't it? Usually, you'd have no selectively edit responses to get that effect!

[Roland99]

5. They're preparing to combat Moore on his upcoming movie

about the drug industry, Eli Lilly in particular. Plus, Langford, the WAVE 3 General Manager, is a big Bush fan and hates Moore.


Oh, BTW, WAVE 3 last night showed an investigative report by the same reporter doing some 60 Minutes style story and was assaulted by the owner of the company he was investigating. Something about it seemed too contrived, though, and now that company owner can't be found (police are trying to serve a warrant on him)

[LouKYDem]

6. I gave up on WAVE 3

I gave up on WAVE 3 a long time ago, I could always detect the right-wing overtones there. I must say that I honestly believe that Fox 41. despite the fact that they often air news directly from Fox News feeds, is one of the least partisan local stations. That is a sad state of affairs. I kind of like WHAS (TV NOT WHAS-AM) but sometimes Mark Hebert can go on one of his journeys to attack a political figure and sometimes it can hurt one party (remember the Paul Patton scandal? Mark Hebert was the first one to find out about this, and knew about it for several weeks before anybody else did because the station wanted to make a big event out of it... and now we have Ernie Fletcher as our governor instead of Ben Chandler)

[mandyky]

7. Are they a Sinclair outlet?

Sounds like it!

[Roland99]

8. Liberty Corporation