A correction was added to this editorial Oct. 20

Due to a reporting error, the Oct. 18 editorial ‘Sinclair ignores ethics to support Bush’ incorrectly stated that Sinclair Broadcast Group owns the WB affiliate television station in Cedar Rapids. Sinclair owns CBS affiliate KGAN. The Daily regrets this error.Sinclair Broadcasting Group, a media corporation owned by the Smith brothers, is mandating that all its stations pre-empt their regular broadcasting two weeks before the election to air what can modestly be described as an unflattering documentary on John Kerry.

By describing it as a news event, Sinclair Broadcasting Group plans to skirt federal regulations requiring equal time rules for political candidates.

This move is clearly politically motivated.

Both the Smith brothers have donated the maximum amount to the Bush re-election campaign. Of political contributions they have made, 97 percent went to the Republicans.

Sinclair last made headlines for refusing to air an episode of “Nightline” in which Ted Koppel read aloud the names of all the U.S. casualties in Iraq, saying that they felt it helped the anti-war effort.

Airing this piece would be wrong. With only two weeks to the election, news broadcasts should be purged as much as possible of any bias, left or right. Sinclair is being disingenuous by declaring the program news. Vietnam has already been the subject of far too much discussion during this election cycle. The documentary does not purport to bring anything new to the debate.

We are also not familiar with many news events that come out on DVD beforehand.

Still, the government restricting Sinclair from airing it presents its own set of problems. It should be obvious that allowing the government to determine what qualifies as news presents a host of dangers.

Sinclair does use the public airwaves and is thus regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. They are also regulated by Federal Elections Commission rules regarding donations. Neither of these organizations is in charge of drawing a line between news and advocacy, though, nor should they be.

There is one obvious thing the FCC could do — it could work to strengthen rules regarding media conglomeration. Sinclair’s decision would not be nearly as significant if it didn’t own enough stations to reach one-fourth of all television viewers. By concentrating so much power in the hands of a few, we will all continue to run into these problems.

Beyond that, the most obvious solution is for viewers to take these matters into their own hands. Write a letter to Fox 17 in Des Moines or the WB station in Cedar Rapids. Let them know how you feel about this issue.

Head over to http://www.boycottSBG.com and give local advertisers a call. When all else fails, it is up to the consumer to keep the media honest. Students do a great job doing just that for the Iowa State Daily.

It’s time to bring that power to bear on Sinclair.