Why would
anybody work for these people?
From the AP:
The Washington bureau chief for Sinclair Broadcast Group said he was fired Monday after he criticized the company's plans to produce a news program based on a documentary critical of John Kerry's Vietnam-era anti-war activities.
Jon Leiberman said he was fired by Joseph DeFeo, Sinclair's vice president for news, and "escorted out of the building."
"I was told I violated company policy by divulging information from a staff meeting to The (Baltimore) Sun in this morning's edition," Leiberman said late Monday.
A number of news outlets are calling
Leiberman a hero. I'm going to reserve judgment.
While he had the guts to speak the truth about Sinclair, he nevertheless had
worked for them for several years beforehand, reporting "good news in Iraq" stories from the comfort of Washington.
Fortunately there is no Sinclair station in my market, so I've never seen the guy before. But when he worked for Sinclair's Baltimore affiliate before, the local free alt weekly named him the city's best tv reporter. What can I tell you? I report, you decide. Maybe it was an example of the ol' frog-in-boiling-water phenomenon.
Anyway, here's what he told the Baltimore Sun (registration required):
"It's biased political propaganda, with clear intentions to sway this election," said Jon Leiberman, Sinclair's lead political reporter for more than a year. "For me, it's not about right or left -- it's about what's right or wrong in news coverage this close to an election."
<snip, snip, snip>
Leiberman said he was anguished by his decision to speak out. But, he said, the influence of commentator Mark Hyman and Chief Executive David D. Smith has been devastating. "There is going to be a concerted effort on the part of my colleagues to make this as balanced a program as they can," Leiberman said. "But the selection of the material -- dumping it on the news department, and giving them four days, and running it this close to the election -- it's indefensible, in my opinion."