Sunday afternoon, the chancellor of Central Texas College, phoned Democratic Congressional challenger
Mary Beth Harrell to inform her that station KNCT would air the NOW documentary
'Sway the Course' tonight, election eve, at 8 PM CST. The rest of the nation viewed the program last Friday, but the program was pulled by KNCT, causing an outcry from Harrell supporters, intense media coverage in the Ft. Hood community, and finally, surrender by KNCT management.
The program focused on Harrell's electoral challenge of two-term Republican John Carter in the Central Texas Congressional district that includes Ft. Hood, one of the world's largest military posts and a prime staging area for troops deploying to Iraq.
Contradictory statements abound; Station license-holder's close ties to military
links to coverage:
KWTX-TV (CBS affiliate, lead story)
KXXV-TV (ABC affiliate, lead story and update)
Killeen Daily Herald (front page)
Temple Daily Telegram (front page)
Austin American-Statesman (inside)
KNCT management is having difficulty getting its story straight on why the program was pulled in the first place.
"KNCT spokesperson Barbara Merlo: ... 'The station manager made a decision not to air the program because he didn't have an opportunity to view it in advance, and our standard is that, because it's a local race, that it be a balanced and fair show,' she said."--Killeen Daily Herald
[Does Merlo think she works for a PBS station or Fox?]
"When the station was contacted Friday, a station representative said the cancellation was about legal pressure being brought to bear because all three candidates were purportedly not included."--Temple Daily Telegram
[News programs are exempt from equal time provisions; in any case, the third candidate, a libertarian was mentioned in the show and had no objections to the program airing in the district.]
"'We didn't pull anything; it was never scheduled,' [Central Texas College Chancellor Jim] Anderson said. 'I'm not sure we've ever been aware the program was available. I learned of it late Friday morning.'"--Austin American-Statesman
[Had the chancellor checked his station's own web site last Friday, he would have seen that it was scheduled to air at 7:30 PM]
"The reason given for the initial decision to not run 'NOW', was apparently because the disputed episode was not available in time to review. According to the press release from Bruce Vasbinder, CTC Community Relations & Marketing: 'The purpose of the review was to ensure fair and balanced coverage for all candidates in this local race.'"--KXXV-TV
[Of three stations serving different parts of the district, only KNCT saw a need to review a national news show's content.]
Central Texas College, the license holder of KNCT, is much more than the sleepy little Texas junior college it might appear to be at first glance. It is a
worldwide institution with 140,000 students, mostly serving in the military. Its list of
domestic 'sites' reads like a
Who's Who of military posts. This brings us to the following question:
In light of the act of censorship; in light of the specious justifications; in light of the evasiveness of Chancellor Anderson; in light of the institution's hand-and-glove relationship with the military, is it appropriate for Central Texas College to hold any broadcast license, let alone one for a member station of the Public Broadcast System?
To call upon the board of Central Texas College to investigate the actions of station management and its chancellor, click here.
What does all this matter on election eve to those of you far away from Central Texas? No matter where you are in the country, please know that an articulate, levelheaded soldiers' mom is standing up to a Republican incumbent in what NOW producer David Branccacio describes as "one of the most pro-War Congressional districts in the country" and one of "the reddest of districts." She's been hard at it for over a year, gaining support among military families with her insistent message that the civilian leadership has let down those who serve in uniform.
Wherever you are, please work to turn out the Democratic base and all those who have "had enough" of the lies and incompetence of George W. Bush.