HoustonChronicle.com – Broadcast company unafraid to push agenda By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, AP

Sinclair owns more TV stations than anyone outside the major networks. And it is not at all shy about using its clout to advance a conservative agenda.

The company, run by the Smith family, finds itself in the middle of a political storm over an anti-John Kerry documentary it plans to air before the election. The company has asked its 62 television stations — many of them in swing states — to pre-empt regular programming to run the documentary, which is critical of Kerry’s anti-war activities after he returned from Vietnam three decades ago.

The impact of the documentary could be large, considering the Sinclair Broadcast Group reaches about a quarter of all U.S. television households from California to Maine. …

The company amassed its stations as federal regulations were relaxed on station ownership [mjh: under Raygun?]. At the same time, it became a generous political donor, giving $172,454 to Republican causes and $6,750 to Democratic campaigns since 1994.

Robert Zelnick, chairman of the journalism department at Boston University, said Sinclair is more conservative than the Fox network.

But he said that while Fox “maintains at least a public claim of objectivity — ‘We report, you decide’ ” — Sinclair is blatant about its conservative bent.

Though they have a far reach, if Sinclair is mostly cable AND well-known to be conservative, they’re probably reaching Bush supporters, not undecided voters. They’ll disgust many with their self-serving manipulation. mjh