Censorship is Un-American
Tonight, ABC's Nightline is doing something beautiful and courageous.
The entire show will consist of a reading of the names of each soldier
who has fallen in Iraq, while his or her photograph shows on the
screen.
But ABC affiliate stations around the country will be prohibited from
airing the special. That's because they're owned by Sinclair
Broadcasting Group, a company whose executives have given tens of
thousands to Republicans and whose right-wing allies tout it as "the
next Fox."
In a statement released earlier this week, the company said that to
honor the men and women who died in this way would be a political act that is "contrary to the public interest." Censoring images of the fallen serves the right-wing ideologues who pushed the war in Iraq, but it certainly doesn't serve our country to hide those who were killed.
* According to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics,
Sinclair executives gave $136,000 to Republicans and the Bush
administration since 2000. It's clear that their partisan bias is
outweighing their responsibility to the public.
* Sinclair is essentially saying that any public recognition of the
fallen soldiers is a political act against the war in Iraq. That
trivializes the sacrifices these men and women made for us. Honoring
the dead is not a partisan act.
* In a news environment often focused on celebrity and pop culture,
Nightline's willingness to take time out of their usual schedule to
pay tribute to the dead is a great service. Civic-minded journalism
like this should be encouraged, not censored.