What a Coincidence!
EmailThe Huntsville (Alabama) Times reports that those viewers hoping to watch a 60 Minutes report on whether former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman’s prison term for federal bribery was part of an alleged GOP plot were treated instead to 12 minutes of black screen and silence.
"Did the local CBS affiliate intentionally pull the plug on the show because it put Siegelman in a favorable light and Republicans in a really, really bad one?" asks the newspaper.
"No, said WHNT general manager Stan Pylant. It was just awful timing for a piece of equipment to break down, he said."
The Alabama Democratic Party has asked the Federal Communications Commission to look into the matter, with the executive director saying "It has come to the attention of many Democrats in north Alabama and that the principal owners of WHNT are Bush Pioneers (people who have raised $100,000 or more for the President’s election campaigns) and major Republican donors. Many suspect that the enormous pressure was put on CBS to not air the Siegelman story. If CBS received political pressure to stifle the First Amendment rights of the network or affiliate, the FCC and Congress should take appropriate oversight into the matter."
The NYT takes a look at this as well HERE.
What a weird world.
- jpt
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Just a conicidence that Steve Kroft’s masterful report was blanked out due to “technical difficulties?” If you believe that, then I’ve a bridge in Brooklyn that I’m dying to sell you!
Posted by: chuck | February 27, 2008, 8:41 am 8:41 am
Honestly, it is a corrupt system altogether. Why should people donate to a political party. Seems unethical. Those with bigger contributions get their promises fulfilled later. Wow. Poor get nothing. Also, the 2 party system is NOT democratic. What kind of choice do we really have? 2 party system? You’re joking me. Yet that is US politics.
Posted by: Joel | February 27, 2008, 9:03 am 9:03 am
COVER UP! COVER UP! COVER UP!
This GOP fish stinks from the head down….
Posted by: Mark | February 27, 2008, 12:29 pm 12:29 pm
And furthermore, if it can be proven that this “Bush Pioneer”-owned TV station blacked out CBS’s anti-Rove/GOP piece for purely political reasons, then that station needs to have its broadcast license PULLED by the FCC!
Oops, what was I thinking? The current FCC is in the pocket of Bush as well….
Posted by: Mark | February 27, 2008, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm
I’m a Republican and I was horrified when I saw this story on “60 Minutes” the other night. That these “technical difficulties” occurred, preventing viewers from making up their own minds, is only more salt in the wound. I hope CBS pressures the local station to re-air the broadcast. (And certainly, if it was only a technical problem and not political influence, why would the station object??)
Posted by: BHLnyc | February 27, 2008, 2:51 pm 2:51 pm
An accident happens on a station that would make the GOP look bad and the libs call it a cover-up. When the liberal station censor real factual news about the corrupt libs they call it free speech.
Got to enjoy the libs, no wonder psychiatrists call libs nuts.
Posted by: spock | February 27, 2008, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
Yup, sounds like a Republican accident of convenience. They will HAVE to prove us Americans who know how low they will go, wrong.
Posted by: irma | February 27, 2008, 3:28 pm 3:28 pm
I am a TV station manager and I can tell you that this stinks ti high heaven. If you lose a Sat feed, switch to backup. Redundancy is the name of the game in this biz. I started in Master Control and I know that the “explanation” of what happened is BS, pure and simple. There is no excuse to run 12 minutes of black when you have functioning transmitters and backup IRDs.
Posted by: LM | February 27, 2008, 3:50 pm 3:50 pm
A truly WEAK response, spock. WEAK, and very LAME. Just covering for your “buddies,” as usual. The ends justifies any means, right? If you’re a wingnut, absolutely,
And thank you, LM, for shooting the right-wing station’s “explanation” pf the blackout into t thousand phony pieces!
Posted by: Mark | February 27, 2008, 8:49 pm 8:49 pm
His daughter was os MSNBC tonight and the FCC needs to clear this matter for the Public it really smells of GOP coverup. Help the Gov. the next person could be YOU.
Posted by: Retta Crawford | February 28, 2008, 4:46 am 4:46 am
“No, said WHNT general manager Stan Pylant. It was just awful timing for a piece of equipment to break down, he said.”
B as in B, S as in S!!!
This thing needs to get legs ABC! Run with it!
Posted by: Matthew Hegge | February 28, 2008, 9:53 am 9:53 am
This has Communist Russia written all over it. I can’t believe this sort of thing happens in America! I remember reading a story about Karl Rove breaking into a Democratic campagn office in Illinois and stealing their papers with campagn letter heads.
Posted by: Drew | February 28, 2008, 4:05 pm 4:05 pm