??2.1 ., Stuart Zang 21 Job No. 176660 Paczl 1 SINCLAIR NEWSCENTRAL, LLC, IN THE CIRCUIT 2 Plaintiff?Counterclaim FOR BALTIMORE COUNTY 3 Defendant, 4 vs. CASE NO.: 5 JONATHAN S. LEIBERMAN, 03?C?05-01089l CN 6 Defendant?Counterclaim 7 Plaintiff. Pages Deposition of STUART ZANG 13 Towson, Maryland 14 Saturday, September 16, 2006 15 l6 17 18 19 20 Reported by: Carla J. Briggs, Esquire Deposition Services D.C. - 1-800?441-3376 MD - 1-800-539-6398 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 52: 5 September 16, 2006 6 10:02 a.m. 10 Deposition of STUART ZANG, held at the offices of; 11 12 13 Sheraton Baltimore North Hotel 14 903 Dulaney Valley Road 15 Towson, Maryland 21204 16 17 18 19 Pursuant to subpoena, before Carla J. Briggs, 20 a Notary Public of the State of 21 Maryland. Esquire Deposition Services MD D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752?8??i?% Stuart Zang APPEARANCES: 2 On Behalf of the Plaintiff?Counterclaim Defendant: fhgeB 3 FRANCIS R. LAWS, ESQUIRE THOMAS LIBOWITZ, P.A. 4 100 Light Street Suite 1100 5 Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 752?2468 6 7 On Behalf of the Defendant?Counterclaim Plaintiff: 8 DANIEL M. DOCKERY, ESQUIRE WILLIAMS DOCKERY LLP 9 725 Twelfth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 10 (202) 434?5698 11 12 On Behalf of the Witness: 13 JACK J. SHAPIRO, ESQUIRE Lake Falls Professional Bldg. 14 6115 Falls Road Suite 15 Baltimore, MD 21209 (410) 372-0808 16 I 17 18 ALSO PRESENT: Jonathan S. Leiberman 19 2O 21 Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Ihge4 2 Deposition of Stuart Zang 3 5 September 16, 2006 4 5 EXAMINATION BY: PAGE 6 Mr. Dockery 5 7 Mr. Laws 94 8 Mr. Dockery 107 9 Mr. Laws 111 10 ll ZANG 12 EXHIBITS DESCRIPTION PAGE 13 1 Article from Baltimore Sun website 77 14 titled "Sinclair Employee Decries 15 Planned Program on Kerry" l6 2 Document from Newshour website 87 17 titled "News or Views?" 18 19 (Exhibits included with transcript.) 20 21 Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 5 2 WHEREUPON 3 STUART ZANG, 4 a Witness called for examination, having been first 5 duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows: 6 EXAMINATION 7 BY MR. DOCKERY: 8 Mr. Zang, thank you very much for coming 9 today and spending part of your Saturday with us. 10 Would you spell your name for the record, 11 please? 12 A Sure. First name is last 13 name is Zang, 14 And are you represented by counsel today? 15 A Yes, I am. 16 Who's representing you? 17 A Jack Shapiro. 18 And just to be clear, is Mr. Shapiro the 19 only attorney in the room today that's representing 20 you? 21 A Correct. Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 6 1 Okay. Have you ever been deposed before? 2 A No. 3 All right. Well, it's not that 4 complicated of a process. There's a few kind of 5 rules of the road that are going to help the court 6 reporter out mainly to take down an accurate 7 transcript of today's deposition. And the main rule 8 is just to keep in mind that the court reporter 9 can't record nonverbal communicationquestion and you nod your head or, you know, 11 gesture, she's not going to be able to record that, 12 so I'm going to ask you just to make sure you give 13 verbal responses to my questions. Is that okay? 14 A Yes. 15 Okay. If at any point today I ask you a 16 question and it doesn't make sense, please ask me to 17 clarify it, and I will be happy to do so. I often 18 ask questions that don't make sense at least 19 that's what I'm told -- so I won't take it 20 personally. Please, anything that I say or ask that 21 doesn't make sense, just ask me to clarify, and I Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 {i i Stuart Zang Page 7 1 will. 2 And the other thing is if you want to take 3 a break at any point, just let me know. As I said 4 before, I don't expect this deposition to go 5 terribly long, but if there's any reason you want to 6 take a break to talk with counsel, go to the 7 bathroom, whatever just let me know and we'll 8 break. 9 A Okay. 10 What is your current address, Mr. Zang? 11 A My current address is 1504 Carrollton 12 Avenue. Carrollton is Avenue 13 here in Towson, 21204. 14 All right. And did you move there 15 recently? 16 A About three days ago. 17 How?s the move going? 18 A It?s still happening. That's where I 19 would be right now. 20 Got the cable hooked up yet? 21 A Don't even have the phones hooked up Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539?6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-8676 VA - Stuart Zang Page 8 1 right. 2 Well, you moved to Towson. Are you 3 currently employed here in TowsonAll right. And who's your current 6 employer? 7 A Towson University. 8 What do you do for Towson University? 9 A I am a media relations specialist in the 10 University Relations Department which is under 11 university advancement. 12 Okay. What does that job entail? 13 A It entails internal communications, 14 faculty staff newsletter. It also entails publicity 15 and public relations contacts for the external 16 community in order to get us media coverage. 17 Okay. Do you know Jonathan Leiberman? 18 A Yes, I do. 19 How do you know Jonathan Leiberman? 20 A Jonathan Leiberman and I worked together 21 at Sinclair Broadcast Group. Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 9 1 Are you currently employed in any way by 2 Sinclair Broadcast Group? 3 A No. 4 Were you employed by Sinclair Broadcast 5 Group or by Sinclair Newscentral, do you 6 know? 7 A My guess ~w I shouldn't say "guess." I 8 believe I was employed by Sinclair Broadcast Group 9 as a distinct entity from Newscentral, L.L.C. 10 Okay. As I go through today's deposition, 11 I may use the term "Sinclair." When I use the term 12 "Sinclair," I'm going to use "Sinclair" to mean 13 Sinclair Broadcast Group, all right? 14 A Okay. 15 I may also use the term ?Sinclair 16 Newscentral.? If at any point when I ask you a 17 question you think that in order to make your answer 18 accurate, you need to specify Sinclair Broadcast 19 Group versus Sinclair Newscentral, just go ahead and 20 do that, okay? And if at any point it makes more 21 sense for me to clarify it, ask me to do so. Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - Stuart Zang Page 10 A Okay. That?s good. 2 When did your employment with Sinclair 3 begin? 4 A My employment with Sinclair began let 5 me think of the date. I believe it was very soon 6 after Labor Day of 2002, because I had been speaking 7 with Mark Hyman, who is vice president of corporate 8 communications, about my position right before the 9 Labor Day weekend, and would have I would have 10 started right after the Labor Day weekend. Not 11 immediately after. I can't give you a precise date, 12 but I would say September of 2002 13 Okay. 14 A is my best approximation. 15 You say you were speaking with Mark Hyman 16 about that position before you were employed; is 17 that correct? 18 A He interviewed me. 19 He interviewed you? 20 A. I just remember, in terms of establishing 21 a time line, that it was around the Labor Day Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398? D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 11 1 weekend. 2 All right. And how did you come to apply 3 for that jobfor the position. From what I 5 remember, it was in careerbuilder.com. 6 All right. And how long did you work for 7 Sinclair? 8 A I worked for Sinclair from September of 9 2002 until the first Wednesday in November of 2004. 10 And during your time of employment with 11 Sinclair, did you have one position title for that 12 entire period? 13 A Yes, I did. 14 What was your position title? 15 A It was producer of "The Point" 16 commentaries. 17 All right. And as producer of "The Point" 18 commentaries, who did you report to? 19 A Mark Hyman. 20 Was he the only person you reported to? 21 A He was the person I reported to directly. Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang PagelZ 1 Okay. Was there anyone you reported to 2 indirectly? 3 A Well, if I was asked to do research or 4 consider reviewing things by David Smith, of course, 5 I would do that. 6 And David Smith is who? 7 A I believe he is the chief executive 8 officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group. 9 And sometimes David Smith would directly 10 ask you to do research? 11 A Yes. 12 How often did that happen? 13 A It was sporadic. Maybe once every week or 14 so. It wasn?t on schedule. 15 Were there any particular subjects that he 16 asked you to research frequently? 17 A There were sources that he encouraged that 18 I use for research purposes. 19 And do you remember any of those sources? 20 A Certainly. 21 Who were those? Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 13 1 A He was he advocated that I listen to 2 the Rush Limbaugh Show and that I visit a website 3 called townhall.com. 4 I'm familiar with the Rush Limbaugh Show. 5 Would you agree with me that that is a talk show 6 that tends to air conservative content? 7 A I would agree with you. 8 I'm not familiar with the website 9 townhall.com. Can you characterize or describe that 10 for me? 11 A Sure. Townhall.com is actually a 12 clearinghouse for conservative columnists such as 13 Ann Coulter and lesser known figures, but a 14 decidedly conservative slant, by anyone's 15 interpretation. 16 Did Mr. Smith ever encourage you to use 17 sources that were not conservative? 18 A No. I do remember that he, at least I 19 would say maybe at least twice, felt strongly that 20 the Rush Limbaugh radio program had it ~n and I'm 21 paraphrasing here but I believe had it right or Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800?539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752?8979 Stuart Zang Page 14 1 really gets it. Something to that extent. 2 Can you recall any particular projects 3 that Mr. Smith asked you to researchresearch specific 5 projects, but I cannot remember them. 6 What were your official job 7 responsibilities as producer of "The Point" 8 communications? 9 A Initially, I was tasked to write and 10 research; however, there was someone in Newscentral 11 who was assigned to produce the commentaries. That 12 person did not want to produce the commentaries and, 13 therefore, I learned to produce them, by which I 14 mean a digital take that by which I mean edit 15 digital footage of Mark Hyman and add what is known 16 as B?roll background footage and remix the 17 sound. 18 So that's, I guess, sort of the technical 19 aspects of production? 20 A Correct. 21 And you said that originally, you were Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 15 hired to write and research? A Correct. What would you write and research? A I would write and research topics that Mark Hyman would want to use to make commentaries; however, during most of the time or after a while, he felt strongly about using he had topics in mind, so I would support his research. So how would that work? Would, you know, he come to you and say "Hey, I've got this topic in mind" or would he, you know, give you a memo with a list of ideas? I mean, I'm just trying to figure out how the process would go. A It was very casual. After a while, Mark Hyman himself pretty much did his own research and all his own writing. I would sit in when he shot when they shot his footage in the studio, which was located in Newscentral one of Newscentral?s control rooms. I would watch his watch them do his footage, make sure it was recorded properly, then take the tape, do background footage research Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 16 using footage, for example, from CNN or other places, and then I would marry that all together. I would edit the footage. I would marry that to the opening music, I would do titles, so I after a while, I was doing more technical production than actual research. Do you know about was there was that a gradual shift or was there a point in your employment where, you know, things changed over a short period of time? A To be honest, I believe that Mark Hyman wanted to hire somebody to do writing and research, but because of his feelings for the commentaries, he really ended up, rather naturally, just doing his own writing and research. I think that I was hired with the intention of doing research and writing; however, it really did not end up that way, so I became more of a technical person. I also took the footage I also took the completed commentaries and sent them out to the stations via satellite, I would make tapes, I would deal with whatever issues Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1~800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 17 came up with the station managers in terms of them having the product. We sent them out we would send out a week?s worth on Friday afternoons. So for on a Friday afternoon, you would send out the commentary for the entire next week? Is that how it worked? A It would be a Friday afternoon for the upcoming Monday through that Sunday. Okay. So you said that there'd been somebody -- when you were hired, you were hired to do writing and research, and somebody else had had production responsibilities at that point? A No. Nobody else? A When I was hired, the commentaries were not being produced on a daily basis. When I was hired, commentaries were produced sporadically. From what I was told, they were produced at Fox 45 on TV Hill in Baltimore, and that as the Newscentral operation was coming together. And from what I remember, the first station was Flint, Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 4 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 18 1 Michigan, and it went operational maybe in October, 2 November of 2002. As that became operational, 3 that's the time that the commentaries became daily. 4 You mentioned something about a person who 5 had not wanted to produce commentaries. Who's the 6 person you're referring to? 7 A The producer's name was Brad Tachco. 8 And how do you spell that last name? 9 A I believe it is He was a 10 Newscentral producer. I did not know him very well. 11 And do you have an understanding of why 12 Mr. Tacho did not -- 13 A Tachco, I believe. 14 Oh. Tachco. Do you have an understanding 15 why Mr. Tachco didn't want to produce the 16 commentaries? 17 A I believe he felt it was an annoyance, 18 that it was not part of his job reSponsibility, and 19 it is possible that he felt it was not part of the 20 newscast. 21 Did you ever have any conversations with Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1?800-539-6398 D.C. - 1?800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 42 1 How would you characterize their 2 management style? 3? A I would characterize their management 4 style as at the time of the "Stolen Honor" 5 special in particular as saying one thing for 6 example, when Mark Hyman was interviewed by the 7 media and doing another thing. And I would 8 characterize their style as highly suspicious of 9 people who were not of consistent who were not of 10 their belief system. 11 And their belief system, just to be clear, 12 you would characterize that as a conservative belief 13 system? 14 A Yes. My first week of employment, I was 15 told to buy three books. "Bias" was one of the 16 books, ?Slander" by Ann Coulter was another book and 17 "Coloring The Media" by I believe it was William 18 McGowan. or those three books, only McGowan's book 19 seemed to have any intellectual integrity. The 20 other two were unabashedly conservative diatribes. 21 This was your required reading when you Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1?800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 3' Stuart Zang Page 43 1 showed up? 2 A This was my reading list, yes. I was 3 reimbursed by the corporation for it, so it?s their 4 property. 5 Who told you you had to read those books? 6 A You know, I don't think it was necessarily 7 just Mark Hyman. It may have been Mark Hyman and 8 David Smith. I honestly cannot remember if it was 9 Mark only. One or both of them. But those three 10 books were strongly encouraged for my reading to 11 give me a sense as to how Sinclair perceived the 12 current state of the media. 13 And what would you say that Sinclair's 14 attitude withdraw that. 15 How would you characterize the attitude of 16 Sinclair's management to employees who personally 17 disagreed with, as you characterize it, their belief 18 system? Management's belief system. 19 A Well, to be honest, I do not feel that 20 they hired people who did not agree with their 21 political system whenever possible. I am not sure Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1?800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Ibge47 1 Do you think that's what happened to you? 2 A Looking at it in the big picture of 3 things, yes. Yes, I would say so. 4 Do you think the intimidation that you 5 witnessed in the newsroom had an effect on the 6 content of news that Sinclair Newscentral produced? 7 A Can you rephrase that? 8 Do you believe that the intimidation that 9 you saw the effects of in the newsroom had an effect 10 on the content that was being produced from the 11 newsroomthese words: There was a 13 strong, clear message coming from corporate as to 14 what the sentiment expressed on the newscast should 15 be, and that such a sentiment had a chilling effect 16 on the news employees who did not agree with that 17 sentiment. And I say those who did not agree 18 because there were people in the newsroom who did 19 agree with the sentiment from upstairs. 20 And what was that sentiment? Or can you 21 characterize it? Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 it Stuart Zang Page 48 1 A The sentiment was that the mainstream 2 media is left?leaning; the sentiment was that there 3 is a lot that the mainstream media wasn?t telling 4 you, the viewer; and there seemed to be, from my 5 watching of the newscast so this is 6 unscientific but there seemed to be a less than 7 balanced proportion between pro?right and anti 8 well, there seemed to be a stream of pro?right and 9 anti?left stories in the news content, but again, 10 this was not a concern of me personally because I 11 produced commentaries, so I did not have any moral 12 crisis in terms of my product because I was not 13 producing something that was to be classified as 14 news. 15 But you were in the newsroom, so you got 16 to sort of witness how the news process occurred? 17 A Yes, I did. 18 Right? 19 A Uh?huh, yes. 20 Did you witness you used the phrase 21 "moral crisis.? Did you witness any news people at Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800?441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 68 1 it was relatively brief. 2 Did you ever have any conversations with 3 Mr. Hyman about "Stolen Honor"? 4 A I'm sure I did. 5 Do you recall the content of any of those 6 conversations? 7 A Not specifically. As I stated earlier, I 8 was there when they were trying to pull this 9 presentation together, so I was around when Paula 10 Starcher, and others were trying to 11 put this production together. I believe that Mark 12 Hyman greeted the vets who were going to be on the 13 ?Stolen Honor" special when they decided to do a 14 special rather than broadcast the documentary 15 itself, and I believe that the veterans came in at 16 one point on Duncan Smith's helicopter, because it's 1? always a big deal when the helicopter lands in the 18 back. It's quite an amazing sight from the newsroom 19 which is on the first floor. 20 I don't remember specifically what Mark 21 Hyman and I would have discussed about "Stolen Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 69 1 Honor," but he was an integral part of it because he 2 was the interface. I believe at the time, he was 3 the vice president for corporate communications, so 4 he was the spokesperson for the company and the main 5 interface to the media about the special. He was 6 vice president of corporate communications at the 7 same time that he was producing commentaries every 8 night for the stations although he was not 9 identified as being a vice president of corporate 10 communications for Sinclair Broadcast Group. 11 And by that, you mean he wasn't identified 12 on the air when he was giving his commentary 13 A He was identified as Mark Hyman. 14 All right. With no other information 15 about what position he held in the company? 16 A Correct, or what company. I think the 17 premise was that Sinclair was not to be discussed as 18 an entity. As the stations produced the Newscentral 19 pieces, the premise was to be seamless with the 20 local newscast, and he was never identified as a 21 corporate vice president of an entity called Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 82 1 whether Sinclair programming would have an influence 2 on a political election? 3 A No. Well, I guess Mark Hyman, I have 4 heard. Let me clarify. Oh. I'm sorry. Did you 5 say presidential election? 6 No.. I said political election. 7 A So, yes. Let me clarify. Mark Hyman did 8 have me produce on company time and company 9 equipment an homage to Maryland Governor Ehrlich, 10 sort of a roast tape, that I think it was for the 11 Anne Arundel County Democrats or something to that 12 extent. Some county not Democrats. Excuse me. 13 Republicans. County Republicans. They were 14 political jokes and all that, but that would have 15 been after an election. We were joking about the 16 gubernatorial election; in particular the what he 17 called "Helicoptergate." That was a bit awkward for 18 me to produce that. 19 Why was that awkward? 20 A Well, that was not commentary product for 21 consumption on "The Point," which was my primary job Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 83 responsibility. 2 What was it for consumption onsmall group of Republicans 4 County Republicans making gags about Governor 5 Ehrlich. They had Mark Hyman shot something in 6 Las Vegas and they had some sort of spoof of 7 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with the 8 Schwarzenegger voice, and there was a shot of the 9 Polo shirt that had a picture of helicopter. 10 Apparently, they had a little chummy club of people 11 who had the Helicoptergate shirt. I had heard about 12 the shirt, but I had never seen the shirt, so it 13 was suffice it to say, it was awkward, but I will 14 state unequivocally that every copy of that tape I 15 made I gave to Mark Hyman. He was concerned that it 16 not be distributed for wide use. 17 Did he ever explain to you why he was 18 concerned about that? 19 A I think he felt peOple would not get the 20 joke, that it would maybe show some sort of 21 political leanings, political bias, that it would Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1?800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 84 1 bring up stuff having to do with the gubernatorial 2 election because Sinclair was accused of giving the 3 governor helicopter rides on Duncan Smith's 4 helicopter which is a company that Duncan Smith 5 owns the helicopter to which I was referring to 6 earlier with the "Stolen Honor" vets coming in 7 and that got some controversial coverage in the 8 press. 9 Did Mr. Hyman ever speak to you about the 10 results of the presidential election? 11 A We didn't have time to speak about it 12 because the first thing he said to me the day after 13 the election was, "I'd like to speak with you. Can 14 you come upstairs for a bit," to which I thought he 15 meant to his office. And from that point onward, we 16 were talking more about my ending relationship with 17 Sinclair Broadcast Group. 18 Did Mr. Hyman ever talk with you about how 19 much of "Stolen Honor" he wanted to see broadcast as 20 news? 21 A I'm sorry. Broadcast as news? Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800~539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 94 1 consistent-record of having a slanted news product, 2 that nevertheless, this was beyond even what they 3 had put on the air for two years, that this was even 4 more outrageous. 5 Mr. Zang, thank you very much for 6 answering my questions. don't have any other 7 questions right now. 8 A Okay. 9 MR. DOCKERY: Mr. Laws may have some 10 questions for you.? I don't know. If he does, I may 11 have some rebuttal questions when he's finished. 12 THE WITNESS: Sure. 13 EXAMINATION 14 BY MR. LAWS: 15 I'm going to be a lot briefer. 16 A Okay . 17 I think during the course of your 18 testimony, you said that when you initially 19 interviewed with Mark Hyman, you had discussions 20 with respect to your own political point of view or 21 your own -- Esquire Deposition Services MD 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 5i . Stuart Zang Page 95 1 A Oh, absolutely. 2 What is your political point of View? 3 What did you tell them? 4 A I was asked if I was asked if Jesse Jackson was a uniter or a divider; I was asked if I 6 had three people to tell to shut up, who they would 7 be and why; I was asked about my opinions of Rush 8 Limbaugh. 9 What were your responses to those three 10 questions? 11 A Well, I was very careful because it was a 12 job interview. I've never seen a job interview 13 where people ask you things like that regardless of 14 the fact that I'd be doing commentaries. I told him 15 the truth which was I didn't know if Jesse JaCkson 16 wasn't a uniter or divider, although it was clear 17 that he thought that Jesse Jackson is a race-beating 18 huckster because Sinclair had had legal wranglings 19 with Jesse Jackson. I didn?t know that at the time. 20 Rush Limbaugh, I forget what I had said. 21 I said oh, I do remember. I'm sorry. I said I Esquire Deposition Services MD 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 96 1 disagree with Al Franken that Rush Limbaugh is a 2 big, fat idiot because Rush is not fat anymorewas surprised that I had a second 5 interview. 6 What was the second question that you 7 said? You said Jesse Jackson, Rush Limbaugh -- 8 A Oh. Name three people you would like to 9 tell shut up, and I I can?t remember who the 10 three were. Media people, I guess, but I can't 11 remember. 12 MR. SHAPIRO: Don't speculate. If you 13 can't remember, you can't remember. 14 A I cannot remember. 15 Is there any doubt in your mind when you 16 left the interview that Mr. Hyman knew that you 17 weren't a political conservative? 18 A No. I didn?t trumpet the fact. 19 But it was pretty obvious? 20 A I will not speculate as to whether he 21 interpreted it. You'd have to ask Mr. Hyman. Maybe Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 97 he didn't know. 2 Now, after you were hired and in the 3 course of your interactions with Mr. Hyman, did you 4 voice your own political beliefs? 5 A In front of Mr. Hyman? 6 (Nodding head yes.) 7 A I tried very hard not to, and probably did 8 not, although I did correct him on points of fact 9 during the time of the Kerry commentaries. I 10 corrected him on several points that he refused to 11 acknowledge because I felt that his Kerry 12 commentaries were smear jobs in light of facts to 13 the contrary. And when I presented those facts in a 14 nonpartisan manner because they're facts, not 15 opinions he did not receive that well. 16 Now, prior to you said you got hired in 17 2002, right? 18 A Yes. 19 Were there other commentaries done by 20 Mr. Hyman that you disagreed with or -- strike 21 that or you expressed your disagreement with him? Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539~6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 98 1 A They were sporadicthem. I only know of them. I may have seen the 3 typed files, but I was not involved with them, so 4 at the time that I interviewed with Sinclair, it was 5 not clear to me that they had a sharp political 6 agenda. I did my research on them before I started; 7 but certainly, during the interview, it became clear 8 what was going on. 9 With respect to the special that 10 ultimately was aired by Sinclair associated with 11 "Stolen Honor,? what's your opinion of what was 12 aired? 13 A It was a mess a mishmash, confused 14 mess. And considering the amount of time between 15 the Los Angeles Times article which was based upon a 16 news release sent to stations' news directors, 17 considering the amount of time, if that's what they 18 were intending to produce, it's highly unlikely that 19 it would have turned out so poorly. If they were 20 going to produce a news special, it would have been 21 a lot better. Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 99 How about in terms of it being something other than what it was portrayed to be, news as opposed to commentary or whatever? If I've heard you correctly, what you?re saying is that you strongly objected to the documentary itself, the documentary produced by Sherwood, being presented as news, right? A Correct. With respect to what was the product that was ultimately aired, what's your opinion with respect to whether or not it was accurately portrayed, what was aired? MR. SHAPIRO: Portrayed as news or commentary? MR. LAWS: News versus commentary or whatever. A No, I don?t I still don't think it was news. I thought it was an emasculated, beaten down, face-saving maneuver because they refused, due to their basic procedures, to pull what they knew was not news and that they refused to concede that and Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 5. Stuart Zang Page 110 responsibility for doing fact checking for his 2 commentaries? 3 A Mark Hyman did his own research; and, 4 therefore, there was no fact checking. 5 So when you came to him and said, you 6 know, ?There are factual inaccuracies in your 7 commentary," I just I want to be clear about 8 this. He didn't say, "Well, you know, somebody else 9 has fact checked it and I understand from someone 10 else that it's accurate"? 11 A Mark Hyman never did primary well, not 12 true. Mark Hyman seldomly did primary source 13 research. He generated most of his ideas from the 14 Washington Times and from other conservative media 15 and would rehash it, so there was no primary source 16 research for almost all the commentaries. There may 17 have been an instance or two. He relied on 18 secondary sources, and so there was no fact 19 checking. He took -- the sources that he used he 20 took for what they were saying as gospel. And I 21 brought up the specifics about the Kerry some of Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979 Stuart Zang Page 1 11 the Kerry commentaries because I didn't want him to 2 be embarrassed. 3 And when you provided him facts to the 4 contrary, he made no changes to his commentary to 5 reflect that? 6 A As I recall, he actually, in one of his 7 few cases of showing emotions, seemed angry. 8 Seemed angry at you for presenting those 9 facts to him? 10 A Yes. It didn't fit the agenda. 11 - MR . DOCKERY: That all I have . 12 EXAMINATION 13 BY MR . LAWS 14 Mr. Zang, I just have a couple more 15 questions. Prior to today, have you ever spoken 16 with Mr. Dockery? 17 A Prior to today, yes. 18 And can you tell me when that was and what 19 was said? 20 A It would have been about a week and a half 21 ago, and he informed me that I was going to be Esquire Deposition Services MD - 1-800-539-6398 D.C. - 1-800-441-3376 VA - 1-800-752-8979