Staples backing down from stand against Sinclair?

Tracy Van Slyke

On Wed., sinclairaction.org announced that Staples. Inc, the world's leading seller of office products, said that they would not renew advertising on all local news programming on Sinclair Broadcasting stations nationwide. Sinclair has been the target of a coalition (including Media Matters, Move On, Free Press, Robert Greewald, director of Outfoxed, and many more) for its conservative and right-wing propoganda disguised as news. The central campaign focuses on its broadcast of "The Point" which contains "contains a steady stream of one-sided anti-progressive and pro-Bush rhetoric that is broadcast without a progressive counterpoint." Staples, Inc. attributed its decision in part to the response the company received from customers visiting the SinclairAction.com website. But in a strange turnaround, Staples released a press release yesterday claiming their "media buying process with Sinclair Broadcasting Group stations has recently been misrepresented by an organization with no affiliation to Staples." According to the Center for American Progress"Staples officials reviewed and edited Media Matters press release -- in draft and in final form -- before it was issued Tuesday. Keep checking sinclairaction.org for more info throughout the day.

Tracy Van Slyke, a former publisher of In These Times, is the project director for The Media Consortium.
The text is from the poem “QUADRENNIAL” by Golden, reprinted with permission. It was first published in the Poetry Project. Inside front cover photo by Golden.
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