On TV News, the Ads Never End (Part Four)

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Expanding on earlier reports of growing product placement deals with TV news programs, Joan Stewart writes in Tactics, the monthly magazine from the Public Relations Society of America, that "in many cases, viewers don't know until the end of a five- or 10-minute spot that the segment is, in fact, advertising." For example, "in Minnesota, KARE-TV has turned its morning news show into a giant infomercial called 'Showcase Minnesota.'" Segments cost $2000 each -- a bargain compared to Phoenix, Arizona's Channel 13 show "Mind, Body and Spirit," where a six-minute interview costs $5000. Poynter Institute professor Jill Geisler points out, "In a news program, the person asking the questions is the advocate for the viewer. In pay for play, the person asking the question is the paid advocate of the interviewee." Former entertainment publicist Raleigh Pinskey counters that such arrangements are "legal and ... good business."