Diane Farsetta's News Articles

New FCC Filing: Broadcasters of Fake News Make False Claims about VNR study

by Diane Farsetta — October 17, 2006 - 2:21pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Video News Releases, U.S. Government
    • Free Press and Center for Media and Democracy respond to smears from RTNDA and NABC

    Groups urge FCC to continue investigation into corporate propaganda

    In an October 16, 2006, letter to the Federal Communications Commission, Free Press and the Center for Media and Democracy refuted spurious claims made by the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) and the National Association of Broadcast Communicators (NABC), a new consortium of broadcast PR firms, about the FCC's ongoing investigation into corporate-funded "fake news" on local TV stations.

    Accuracy of Report on Video News Releases Affirmed: CMD Issues Full Rebuttal of RTNDA Claims

    by Diane Farsetta — October 9, 2006 - 1:34pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Video News Releases, Corporations

    • The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a full rebuttal of claims made against its April 2006 report, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed." The report tracked television stations' use of video news releases (VNRs). The report documented 77 television stations airing VNRs or related materials; not once did stations disclose the client behind the segment. Recently, the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), through the law and lobby firm Wiley Rein & Fielding, issued a critique of CMD’s report that misrepresented and distorted the substance of the report. CMD's full, point-by-point rebuttal of RTNDA's critique is available online at: www.prwatch.org/node/5282.

    Rebuttal of the Radio-Television News Directors Association's "Fake TV News" Report Critique

    by Diane Farsetta — October 9, 2006 - 12:07pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Video News Releases, Corporations

    • On October 5, 2006, the Wiley Rein & Fielding law and lobby firm filed an appeal with the U.S.

    Moving Foreign Investment Forward: A Strange PR Pick for Iraqi Kurdistan

    by Diane Farsetta — September 27, 2006 - 9:25am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Iraq, International, Public Relations

    • Some weeks are slow on Move America Forward's email list. Others are bustling. September 15 to 21, 2006, was an example of the latter. Six emails were sent, including two from "The Other Iraq," at the address "KDC@RMRWest.Net."

    The emails are noteworthy because they illustrate synergy between two clients of the Republican-associated Sacramento public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM&R): Move America Forward, a conservative cheerleader for the Bush administration's "war on terror," and the Kurdistan Development Corporation, an "investment holding and tradings company" formed in partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq (and presumably the KDC of the above email address).

    The first of the "other Iraq" emails began, "We wanted to send you this short note to let you know that a delegation from Iraqi Kurdistan is back in the United States - continuing our campaign to tell the American public about 'The Other Iraq.'"

    What Media Democracy Looks Like: Testifying in Milwaukee

    by Diane Farsetta — September 13, 2006 - 8:44am
  • Topics: Activism, Video News Releases, Media, Race / Ethnic Issues, U.S. Government

    • "Media democracy" is a term that everyone defines a little differently.

    Is it quality reporting that not only informs about local, national and international issues, but also facilitates citizen involvement? Is it having the diversity of our communities represented among media owners? Is it giving local programmers access to the airwaves? Is it holding broadcasters to the terms of their freely-granted licenses? Is it ensuring a variety of news and cultural media offerings?

    How to Be a Grassroots Propaganda Buster

    by Diane Farsetta — July 31, 2006 - 4:57pm
  • Topics: Citizen Journalism, Activism, Public Relations

    • While in the Denver area for a conference, Center for Media and Democracy Associate Director Judith Siers-Poisson and I met with staff and board members of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center (RMPJC). We wanted to hear about RMPJC's fine work, especially on nuclear weapons issues, and to describe CMD's online resources to them. One offshoot of that meeting was the following article, which I wrote for RMPJC's newsletter.

    Cosmetic Solutions: The Makeup Industry Gives Itself a Health Hazard Makeover

    by Diane Farsetta — July 14, 2006 - 5:32pm
  • Topics: Activism, Children, Environment, Health, Public Relations

    • Breast cancer. Genital abnormalities. Distortion and damage of genetic material.

    Common ingredients in cosmetic products have been linked to these hazards. As further research is conducted into the long-term and cumulative effects on cosmetics users, their children and the water supply that products are washed off into, more questions arise. Not that you'd know it by listening to the cosmetics industry.

    An important underlying issue is that the industry is largely self-regulated. While interstate trade in "adulterated or misbranded cosmetics" is prohibited, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not review new cosmetics before they are marketed and cannot order recalls of hazardous cosmetics. "Cosmetic firms are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products and ingredients," reads the FDA's own explanation.

    The industry's trade group, the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA), likes this hands-off approach. CTFA has 600 member companies, including Aveda, Clairol, L'Oréal and Unilever, and standing committees on government relations, public affairs and international issues. Its website says CTFA promotes "industry self-regulation and reasonable governmental requirements." But reasonable to who?

    Procter & Gamble's Marketing Madness Continues

    by Diane Farsetta — June 23, 2006 - 3:41pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Marketing, Women

    • For the past few months, I've been blogging on "WIMN's Voices," a group blog hosted by the organization Women in Media & News. The subtitle of the blog is "Women, Media, AND..." The 50-some women contributors add their area of expertise to the "and," such as marketing, popular culture, immigration, and LGBT issues, to name just a few.

    Confronted with Disclosure Demands, Fake News Moguls Cry "Censorship!"

    by Diane Farsetta — June 7, 2006 - 11:26am
  • Topics: Activism, Video News Releases, Media, U.S. Government

    • Be afraid, be very afraid! If television stations are required to abide by existing regulations and label the corporate and government propaganda they routinely pass off as "news," the First Amendment will be shredded, the freedom of the press repealed, and TV stations will collapse overnight!

    Television Stations Respond... And It's Worse Than You Think

    by Diane Farsetta — May 1, 2006 - 4:08pm
  • Topics: Activism, Video News Releases, Media, U.S. Government

    • One news director says, "I have been instructed by corporate not to talk to you."

    Hours after the Center for Media and Democracy released our study on television stations' widespread and undisclosed use of corporate video news releases (VNRs), a major organization of broadcast news executives issued its response.

    "The Radio-Television News Directors Association strongly urges station management to review and strengthen their policies requiring complete disclosure of any outside material used in news programming," read the statement. RTNDA went on to caution that decisions involving "when and how to identify sources ... must remain far removed from government involvement or supervision."

    Unfortunately, RTNDA's statement conflates "sources" with broadcast material funded by and produced for outside parties. It also conveniently ignores that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, under its authority to regulate broadcasters' use of the public airwaves, already has disclosure requirements (PDF) on the books. But RTNDA's stance does point to an important, underlying issue: how to ensure both news audiences' right to know "who seeks to influence them," and the editorial freedom of newsrooms.

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