Carlton Sherwood
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Carlton Alex Sherwood (December 16, 1946 – June 11, 2014) was an American journalist who produced the anti-
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
film '' Stolen Honor''. Sherwood served on two news teams which were responsible for the award of the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
and the
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
to their organizations. After working for the Unification Church-owned '' Washington Times'', he authored '' Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon'', a book about the '' United States v. Sun Myung Moon'' which involved
Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unif ...
, the leader of the same church. In 1987, the Blinded American Veterans Foundation established the annual Carlton Sherwood Media Award to recognize "both journalistic excellence and those members of the media who have shown special interest in—and dedication to—the needs and concerns of American veterans."


Early life and career

He was born in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...
in 1946, the son of a naval submarine officer. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps and participated in the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic. He later attended the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
. His career as a reporter began at the ''
Philadelphia Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United ...
'' in 1968.


Journalism

Sherwood, John M. Hanchette, and William F. Schmick, were responsible for the Gannett News Service winning the 1980
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
public service gold medal. The award was for a series investigating a fund-raising scandal involving the
Pauline Fathers The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit ( lat, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitæ; abbreviated OSPPE), commonly called the Pauline Fathers, is a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church founded in Hungary during the 13th century. Thi ...
of Doylestown, Pennsylvania and the Vatican's role in the subsequent cover up. It was the first time this award was given to a wire service. Sherwood also was part of a team of reporters who documented abuse, neglect, and deaths among children, the aged, and the mentally ill cared for by Oklahoma's Department of Human Services. The investigation culminated with articles published by Gannett, a special report produced by Karen Burns and
Bill Lichtenstein Bill Lichtenstein (born October 3, 1956) is an American print and broadcast journalist and documentary producer, president of the media production company, Lichtenstein Creative Media, Incorporated. Lichtenstein began working in 1970 at age 1 ...
which aired on the ABC News Magazine ''20/20'' entitled "
Throwaway Kids Throwaway Kids was a two-part investigative report airing on the ABC News television series ''20/20'' in 1981. The report followed a nine-month undercover investigation by producers Karen Burnes and Bill Lichtenstein. The reports detailed the doc ...
" and a report, "
Oklahoma Shame Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...
", which aired on Gannett-owned TV station KOCO in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...
. The series was honored with a 1982 Peabody Award.


Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund

In a November 1983 four-part series for Gannett-owned
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
television station
WDMV WDMV is a broadcast radio station licensed to Walkersville, Maryland, serving the Metro Washington area. WDMV is owned and operated by Birach Broadcasting Corporation. History The WDMV call letters were first assigned to the 540 AM radio statio ...
(now WUSA) Channel 9 called ''Vietnam Memorial: A Broken Promise?''. :...he "raised serious questions regarding the financial propriety" of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, a private organization that raised $9 million to build the wall. Sherwood reported that only $2.6 million had been spent and wanted to know where the rest of the money was. Bob Doubek, project director for the Fund, said that "It was a hit piece. All of Sherwood's stuff was conjecture, smoke and mirrors." To prevent a lawsuit, the station aired a retraction and donated $50,000 to the Fund. Sherwood was arrested and charged with illegally taping one of the subjects of the report,
John P. Wheeler III John Parsons Wheeler III (December 14, 1944 – ), known as Jack Wheeler, was an American businessman and former White House aide. Wheeler was chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, senior planner for Amtrak (1971–1972), official of th ...
, chairman of the Fund and special council to the chairman of the SEC. The charges against Sherwood were later dropped. An audit of the Fund by the
General Accounting Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
, made public in May 1984, concluded that Sherwood's charges regarding the Fund were baseless. In December, the station refused to air another report by Sherwood criticizing the Fund. Sherwood quit and got a job for ''
The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'' at a lower salary. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' headline on this controversy read "Reporter's Project Ruins His Career". (July 17, 1984)


''Inquisition''

In his book ''Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon'', Sherwood concluded: :"The Unification Church, its leaders and followers were and continue to be the victims of the worst kind of religious prejudice and racial bigotry this country has witnessed in over a century. Moreover, virtually every institution we as Americans hold sacred the Congress, the courts, law enforcement agencies, the press, even the U.S. Constitution itself was prostituted in a malicious, oftentimes brutal manner, as part of a determined effort to wipe out this small but expanding religious movement." Sherwood's independence from the subject matter, however, was called into question. Sherwood had previously worked for ''
The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'', owned by members of the Unification Church. In the story "The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon" (January 21, 1992), the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
television series ''
Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...
'' produced a copy of a letter addressed to Moon, written by James Gavin, a leader in Moon's Unification Church. Gavin tells Moon he reviewed the "overall tone and factual contents" of the book before publication and suggested revisions. Gavin adds that "Mr. Sherwood has assured me that all this will be done when the manuscript is sent to the publisher." Gavin concludes by telling Moon, "When all of our suggestions have been incorporated, the book will be complete and in my opinion will make a significant impact. ... In addition to silencing our critics now, the book should be invaluable in persuading others of our legitimacy for many years to come."


Pentagon military analyst program

Sherwood was one of 75 members of the Pentagon military analyst program, recruited in 2002 to make appearances in the US media as military analysts while delivering
talking points A talking point, often used in the plural, is a pre-established message or formula used in the field of political communication, sales and commercial or advertising communication. The message is coordinated ''a priori'' to remain more or less inv ...
in favor of the Bush administration's
invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
.


''Stolen Honor''

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Sherwood wrote and directed the anti-Kerry documentary '' Stolen Honor'', which presented the viewpoints of a number of American Vietnam War veterans who contend that
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
's anti-war activities harmed them and depicted Kerry as a traitor. Sherwood told
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, "We're all Vietnam combat vets, and we were all slandered and vilified by John Kerry, branded as baby killers." The journalistic standards of this piece were widely called into question.
Sinclair Broadcasting Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
planned to broadcast it on the eve of the general election, stating that they considered it to be newsworthy. After the ensuing controversy, Sinclair did not broadcast the film. ''Stolen Honor'' was a project of Sherwood's Red, White and Blue Productions based in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
, whose public affairs are managed by Quantum Communications, a company owned by lobbyist Charles Gerow. In 2000, Gerow ran on the Republican ticket for Congress. In 2003, he was nominated by President Bush to be a Member of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Commission. Gerow acted as publicist for the film. Sherwood sued Kerry, alleging that he was responsible for Sinclair refusing to air the film and for damage to Sherwood's reputation. Kerry created a legal defense fund called Fund for Truth and Honor, a play on the title of Sherwood's film. The lawsuit was dismissed.


Republican appointments

Sherwood formerly worked for Pennsylvania governor
Tom Ridge Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician and author who served as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003, and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. ...
, whom
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
later appointed as the first Secretary of Homeland Security. Sherwood and Ridge met when Ridge was a Congressman and a key critic of the planned Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Sherwood was reporting negatively on the Memorial Fund. Sherwood currently serves as Executive Vice President and Director of Communications of the WVC3 Group, Inc., an anti-terrorism, security firm headquartered in Reston, VA. According to his profile on the WVC3 website, Sherwood "served as Special Media Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy during the Reagan Administration."


Death

On June 11, 2014 he died in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
from
congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
at the age of 67.


References


Bibliography

* Sherwood, Carlton. (1991). ''Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon''.
Regnery Press Regnery Publishing is a Conservatism in the United States, politically conservative book publisher based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Henry Regnery in 1947, and is now a division of radio broadcaster Salem Media Group. It is led ...
. * Sherwood, Carlton. (1982). ''The Wayward Shepherds''. Putnam Publishing Group. .


External links


Bio from stolenhonor.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Carlton American male journalists 2014 deaths 1946 births University of Maryland, College Park alumni Writers from Camden, New Jersey