Sinclair Media Feels the Power of Blog

Last Friday, television stations that are members of the Sinclair Media Group were scheduled to air an anti-John Kerry special called Stolen Honor. That is, until the Internet kicked in.

Thanks to advance warning, bloggers spread the word (and e-mail spread it further). A well-orchestrated boycott and writing campaign began, aimed not at the stations, but at the advertisers. Spurred on by sites that appeared literally overnight such as Boycott Sinclair Broadcast Group and Badvertisers, people in Sinclair’s 39 markets, armed with phone numbers and e-mail addresses, started contacting the local businesses that are the lifeblood of the company.

Sinclair’s stock took a nosedive. Stockholders threatened a lawsuit, saying that the company’s execs were making bad business decisions for political reasons. Allegations of insider trading surfaced.

And Sinclair blinked. More at USA Today…