NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Sinclair Broadcast Group has pulled back on its plans to air a program critical of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's anti-Vietnam war activities.

A young Kerry testifies before Congress in a scene from the movie.

Facing a growing political firestorm , the Hunt Valley, Md.-based broadcaster said Tuesday that it would not air the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" in its entirety.

Sinclair said 40 of its 62 stations would air a one-hour program on Friday entitled "A POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media" that will continue to look at allegations about Kerry's antiwar activities in the early 1970s.

It will also focus in part on the use of documentaries and the role of the media in swaying voters, the company said.

"As with all news programming produced by Sinclair's News Central, 'A POW Story' is being produced with the highest journalistic standards and integrity. We have not ceded, and will not in the future cede, control of our news reporting to any outside organization or political group," Sinclair's vice president of news, Joe DeFeo, said in a statement.

"We are endeavoring, as we do with all of our news coverage, to present both sides of the issues covered in an equal and impartial manner," DeFeo said.

Sinclair's original decision to air the program based on the anti-Kerry documentary had drawn criticism from Democrats and media watchdog groups.

The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission last week charging that the broadcast would amount to an illegal campaign contribution.

In addition, a group of 18 Democratic senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell and urged him to investigate whether the program was a proper use of public airwaves. Powell said the FCC could not block the program from airing.

Sinclair critics also called for boycotts of the broadcaster's advertisers, and some shareholders have pressured the television chain.

New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi on Monday sent a letter to Sinclair on behalf of the $115 billion state pension fund, which owns more than 250,000 Sinclair shares.

"Given the stock's already poor performance, it would seem that any bad news would risk reducing investor interest and, thus, risk a lower stock price," Hevesi wrote.

Media Matters for America, a liberal media research group, also announced it would underwrite a shareholder suit by Glickenhaus & Co., a Wall Street investment firm, and demanded that Sinclair allow equal time for views opposite those in its special.

Attorney William S. Lerach threatened Tuesday to file suit over alleged insider trading by officers of the television chain and damage to the company from the decision to broadcast the special.

Sinclair's stock has fallen from $7.50 on October 8 to $6.26 at Tuesday's close, a loss of nearly 17 percent.