So it’s countdown to Election Day, and the propaganda continues. It’s bad enough a whole cable news network that claims to be “fair and balanced” is dedicated to furthering the republican agenda. Now a network broadcast group will also be airing an anti-Kerry video on 62 network stations in cities nationwide on the eve of Election Day and calling it news.Sinclair Broadcast Group will air between now and election day, Novemer 2, “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal,” highlighting John Kerry’s anti-war activities 30 years ago. According to The New York Times, the broadcast will pre-empt primetime broadcasting on all six major network stations in the swing states of Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania. The documentary Sinclair executives are labeling as news will show Kerry’s 1971 congressional war testimony that told of American soldiers torturing and demoralizing Vietnamese captives. Interviewees in the video claim this demeaned soldiers and caused prisoners to be kept longer. They will also link Kerry to known liberal activist Jane Fonda. Two members of the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” will appear in the video, including former Bush campaign volunteer Ken Cordier.Since Sinclair is calling this conservative propaganda “news,” they probably will not be required to provide equal time to the Kerry campaign, according to The New York Times. Sinclair’s vice president Mark Hyman says they invited Kerry to appear after the airing to defend himself and he declined. Kerry spokespeople say they don’t take the offer seriously, since it is coming from this group that does not take journalism seriously and is aiming to further the Bush campaign. Kerry is probably right – the Sinclair Broadcast Group executives have contributed substantial amounts of money to the Republican Party, according to www.politicalmoneyline.com. To counteract this blow to their party, Democratic senators Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California prepared a letter calling for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the decision to air this documentary. They say it’s just a prolonged political ad for George Bush and thus violates campaign finance rules by not also airing a pro-Kerry ad of equal length, according to The New York Times.FCC Chairman Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, responded by saying they would not be blocking the stations from airing this so-called news. Big surprise.It is a sad state of affairs for journalism when major network stations can air political ads full of speculation and opinion the night before Election Day and call it news. Since this documentary will be replacing regularly scheduled broadcasting on all network stations in the cities Sinclair controls, a lot of people will probably be watching it. Viewers who don’t know any better may believe it is really news.Conglomerates, such as Sinclair Broadcasting, are gaining greater control of the media. These conglomerates control large broadcasting blocks in numerous cities and sadly, many media conglomerates have an agenda. The chances for real news to reach the air, truly fair and balanced news, is becoming slimmer because of this influence.With huge corporations uniting to control the news media, the influence of newsmakers is becoming weaker. Rather than editors controlling the content of news in both print and on air, business executives decide what is newsworthy. It is easy to make the news fit their agendas if the right facts and opinions are featured and all else is ignored. I can only hope those who view these kinds of propaganda are smart enough to see them for what they are – political advertisements. Hopefully viewers are smart enough to see similar documentaries criticizing Bush are absent on network television, and that is unfair. I also hope viewers realize the propaganda of “Stolen Honor” is present only to further one side’s agenda, and can make their own informed decisions based on facts rather than spin.

-Gaia Veenis is a journalism senior.

-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.