TO THE RIGHT OF FOX NEWS...AND THE END OF AN ERA

Remember Sinclar Broadcast Group, the nation's largest owner of television stations who aired the hatchet job Stolen Honor against John Kerry only weeks before the presidential election? And who forced their ABC affiliate stations to preempt the Nightline broadcast that aired the pictures and names of our fallen servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan?

I just happened to pick up a copy of the previous edition of Rolling Stone magazine this morning because it noted a couple of articles that caught my eye, and came across this great piece about the Maryland-based conservative bastion and the way that it slants the news in favour of Bush/Cheney and their policies here and abroad.

It's crazy reading Sinclar President/CEO David D. Smith, sitting in his fifth floor executive suite, saying:

"We're in the center... Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the media is left of center. Paula Zahn or Peter Jennings or anybody who is attempting to pass himself off as reporting news -- they're not telling the whole story. Dan Rather wants you to believe that Saddam Hussein is a nice guy! There are two companies doing truly balanced news today: Sinclair and Fox."

Friends, if Sinclair is in the center, Fidel Castro has become the perfect example of democracy in action...and we KNOW that ain't happenin'!

And while I'm mentioning television, I watched Dan Rather's final broadcast as anchor of the CBS Evening News. He ended by thanking his collegues past and present, as well as the viewers, and ended with a variation on a signoff that he used early during his tenure at the desk:

"Not long after I first came to the anchor chair I briefly signed off using the word 'courage.' I want to return to it now, in a different way, to a nation still nursing a broken heart for what happened here in 2001, and especially those who found themselves closest to the events of Sept. 11.

"To our soldiers in dangerous places. To those who have endured the tsunami and to all who have suffered natural disasters, and who must find the will to rebuild. To the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle, in financial hardship or in failing health. To my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all. And to each of you: 'Courage.'"

As the closing theme approached it's end, the camera panned wide to show the staff (and likely network execs) gathering around the anchor desk applauding their now-former managing editor. Face The Nation host and Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer takes over on an interim basis tomorrow evening.