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Stolen Honor

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Stolen Honor is a 45-minute video documentary that was released in September 2004. It features interviews with a number of American men who were prisoners of war in North Vietnam, who contend they suffered increased maltreatment while prisoners as a direct result of John Kerry's Fulbright Hearing testimony in April 1971. The subtitle of the film is Wounds That Never Heal; on the production company's website the complete title is given instead as Stolen Honor: John Kerry's Record of Betrayal. Its name was based on the book Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley

Stolen Honor was a project of Red, White and Blue Productions, whose public affairs are managed by Quantum Communications [1], a company owned by lobbyist Charles Gerow [2], who also acted as publicist for the film. [3] In 2000, Gerow ran on the Republican ticket for Congress [4]. In 2003, he was nominated by President Bush to be a Member of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Commission [5].

The production company's website states that "Stolen Honor investigates how John Kerry's actions during the Vietnam era impacted the treatment of American soldiers and POWs. Using John Kerry's own words, the documentary juxtaposes John Kerry's actions with the words of veterans who were still in Vietnam when John Kerry was leading the anti-war movement." [6]

One of the ex-POWs interviewed in Stolen Honor is Kenneth Cordier, who resigned in 2004 from his role as an advisor to the Bush campaign, after it was disclosed that he was simultaneously working for SBVT, which as a 527 group—a tax-exempt organization. Under current election laws, such dual roles can be barred.

According to conservative commentator Deroy Murdock,

"It presents POWs who argue that John Kerry's fallacious spring 1971 claims that U.S. atrocities occurred 'on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command' amplified their agony under America's North Vietnamese enemies." [7]

The producer of Stolen Honor was journalist, Vietnam War veteran, and private military corporation executive Carlton Sherwood, who was part of the 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning Gannett News Service team.

In 1992, Sherwood was criticised for allegedly having not remained impartial as a journalist. These complaints were in regards to Inquisition, Sherwood's controversial investigative report regarding the Unification Church, allegedly having been subject to prior review and revision by its subject. [8]. Additionally, there have been complaints alleging that Sherwood is a partisan, his political inclinations being evidenced by his appointments to several positions by Republican politicians.

October 2004 media controversy

In early October 2004, it was reported that Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns television stations in nearly one-quarter of the United States, had ordered all of its stations to air Stolen Honor in the days leading up to the November 2 presidential election. [9].

These news reports touched off a media firestorm. According to Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times:

"This film is payback time, a chance to punish one of the most famous antiwar activists, Mr. Kerry, the one who got credit for serving with distinction in combat, then, through the eyes of the veterans in this film, went home to discredit the men left behind...[I]t does help viewers better understand the rage fueling the unhappy band of brothers who oppose Mr. Kerry's candidacy and his claim to heroism." [10]

Mark Nevins, a spokeman for the Kerry presidential campaign, stated:

"This group is the poor, distant cousin of the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush [referring to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth]. It's comprised of people with questionable backgrounds whose sole mission in life is to smear John Kerry." [11] (Nevins was making a derisive reference to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-Kerry organization.)

The news of the possible Sinclair broadcast was followed by various complaints that such a direct criticism of Kerry would violate the "equal time" provision of the Communications Act that governs airtime for political candidates.

When questioned about this contention, then current FCC chairman Michael Powell announced the FCC position that a broadcast of this documentary would not be a violation of the equal time provision. However, former FCC chairman, Reed Hundt, contended that Powell was offering "tacit and plain encouragement of the use of the Sinclair airwaves to pursue a smear campaign." [12]

A spokesperson for Sinclair said that the airing would be followed by a panel discussion, which Kerry would be asked to join. The Kerry campaign declined the invitation. Sinclair did not accept Michael Moore's offer for free broadcast of his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 to balance its reporting.

At time this issue was in the news, Sinclair's then Washington bureau chief, Jon Lieberman, publicly condemned the expected broadcast in an interview in the Baltimore Sun:

"It's biased political propaganda, with clear intentions to sway this election ... 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."

Shortly after making this statement to the newspaper, Lieberman was fired. After being fired, Lieberman contended that lost his job because he criticized Sinclair's plan to air Stolen Honor - a plan that he said originated with Mark Hyman, a Sinclair executive. [13] Regarding this firing, Sinclair Vice-President Mark Hyman said:

"Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion, including Jon Leiberman. We are disappointed that Jon's political views caused him to speak to the press about company business."

Reacting to reports that Sinclair was to air Stolen Honor soon before the election, more than 100 Democratic members of the United States Congress asked the FCC to consider the legality of the planned broadcast. Senator Edward Kennedy asked the Justice Department to investigate. The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. After over 100 advertisers pulled their ads and the company's stock price dropped significantly, Sinclair announced that it had never intended to air Stolen Honor in the hour slot in the first place, indicating that it might instead show clips of the video in a discussion panel format. Ultimately, Sinclair did not broadcast any such show.

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