WASHINGTON, Oct 12: Democrats were up in arms on Tuesday over a broadcast company's plans to air a documentary critical of the party's presidential challenger, John Kerry, just weeks before the election.
Eighteen Democratic senators complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), while the Democratic National Committee was set to file a formal protest with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Both argued that the planned broadcast on up to 62 stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group amounted to partisan political programming rather than straight news, and therefore constituted improper use of the public airwaves.
The documentary, "Stolen Honour: Wounds That Never Heal," includes testimony from former Vietnam prisoners of war and their families. They argue that Kerry's 1971 testimony to Congress, criticizing the war that he had just returned from, betrayed his comrades and helped prolong their captivity.
"To allow a broadcasting company to air such a blatantly partisan attack in lieu of regular programming and to classify that attack as news programming as has been suggested, would violate the spirit and, we think, the text of current law and regulation," said the Democrat senators' letter to the FCC.
The FCC said it had received the letter, but one official said it would be difficult to rule on the complaint before the 90-minute documentary had actually been aired.
Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns stations reaching nearly one quarter of US television households - including markets in key battleground states - has said it will pre-empt regular programming to show the documentary.
"The programme has not been videotaped and the exact format of this unscripted event has not been finalized," the company said in a statement posted on its website.
"Characterizations regarding the content are premature and are based on ill-informed sources," it added. Under federal regulations, stations broadcasting political programming are required to accord equal air time to both sides of the partisan divide.
Sinclair noted that it had invited Kerry to participate in the programme - a gesture dismissed by the Democratic senators as "a transparent attempt to circumvent the fine print of the law."
Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said a complaint was being filed with the FEC because the programme amounted to an "illegal in-kind contribution" to President George W. Bush's re-election campaign.
"This is a use of corporate funds," McAuliffe said. "Under the law you cannot use corporate funds to go out there and advocate for a party or for a political candidate." He added that Kerry would only be interested in responding if Sinclair would offer the Democratic candidate the equivalent 90 minutes of prime time to do so. -AFP
