• by David Kaplan , January 10, 2005

In the latest bout of "Staples said, Staples didn't say," Media Matters for America, the organization that has opposed Sinclair Broadcast Group for alleged conservative bias in its news broadcasts, is standing by its claim that the office retail giant supported a boycott against Sinclair.

The Washington, D.C.-based Media Matters, in association with the protest group MoveOn.Org, issued a press release on Tuesday claiming that Staples decided not to buy media time during Sinclair's local newscasts.

On Thursday, Staples issued a response to the growing news coverage about its alleged decision.

In a statement, Staples said: "Our media buying process with Sinclair Broadcast Group stations has recently been misrepresented by an organization with no affiliation to Staples. Staples regularly drops and adds specific programs from our media buying schedule, as we evaluate and adjust how to best reach our customers. We do not let political agendas drive our media buying decisions."

Then, on Friday, David Brock, Media Matters' president and CEO, made a statement of his own, directed at Staples CEO Ron Sargent in response to accusations of misrepresentation: "As you may know, Staples, Inc. officials reviewed, edited, and approved the Media Matters press release of January 4, 2005, in both draft and final form. That release stated that Staples was not renewing advertising on Sinclair local news programming, due in part to concerns registered by visitors to the SinclairAction.com Web site, which was launched December 14, 2004, to protest the conservative slant of Sinclair's news programming--in particular a nightly conservative commentary called "The Point." Brock's letter contained a quote from Staples' spokesman Owen Davis from the January 5th issue of the Chicago Tribune: "In general, we don't explain decisions regarding our media buys. But we did consider the concerns expressed by our customers with some political partisan programming, specifically 'The Point.'"

Sally Aman, a spokeswoman for Media Matters, also noted that there had been several contacts between Staples and the organization for the past two weeks, essentially coordinating several messages that had been forwarded to Staples from citizens supporting the boycott against Sinclair, which has been a target for liberal groups since last fall, when the company aired a documentary that was viewed as overly critical of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and his war record.

Staples' media spending is $80 million, according to Nielsen. It is uncertain how much of that is spent on Sinclair broadcasts.

As for how the issue will eventually be settled between Staples--which now says it will advertise during Sinclair's newscasts--and Media Matters, Aman is unsure.

"Frankly, I'm confused myself," she said.