Activism

Stop the Fake News Dummies!

by Laura Miller — June 1, 2005 - 8:49am

Video news releases (like those featuring Karen Ryan) and pundit payola (like Armstrong Williams' promotion of the No Child Left Behind Act) are just two examples of how corporate and government interests have infiltrated news media, turning reporters and c

Main Source: 
Center for Media and Democracy

Dezenhall Bemused by Environmentalists' Wins

by Bob Burton — May 27, 2005 - 2:26am

Joan Lowy notes that environmental groups like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network and the Texas Campaign for the Environment are having success with campaigns that bypass government and directly lobby corporations instead.

Main Source: 
Scripps Howard News Service, May 25, 2005

FCC Commissioner Adelstein Issues Fake News Challenge

by Laura Miller — May 17, 2005 - 1:29am
  • Topics: Activism, Media

    • "We need to fight one of [media consolidation's] most pernicious symptoms, I think, which is the increasing commercialization of media," the Federal Communications Commission's Jonathan Adelstein t

    No Fake News!

    On April 6, 2006, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a multi-media report titled, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed." It provides the most extensive account to date of how corporate-funded video news releases (VNRs) -- fake TV news -- are routinely aired by newsrooms, without disclosure, as though they were independently-gathered reports.

    One Small Step Towards Full Disclosure

    by Diane Farsetta — May 5, 2005 - 12:01pm

    For one year, U.S. government agencies will be banned "from issuing video news releases that do not clearly identify" the government as the source of the footage. Congressional members "agreed to include the measure in an emergency spending bill," which is why the restriction expires after one year.

    Main Source: 
    Reuters, May 3, 2005

    Unhappy Campers

    by Bob Burton — April 17, 2005 - 2:53am

    The president of the Public Relations Institute of Australia's (PRIA) Victoria chapter, David Hawkins, bluntly summarised the results of a membership survey as, "Most people think the PRIA sucks.

    Main Source: 
    Crikey.com.au (sub. req

    The FCC on "Fake News": Who's Trying to Persuade You?

    by Diane Farsetta — April 14, 2005 - 12:31pm
  • Topics: Activism, Media, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • "Listeners and viewers are entitled to know who seeks to persuade them," noted the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in a Public Notice (PDF file, Word file) released last night.

    Suing Them Softly

    by Bob Burton — April 5, 2005 - 7:03pm

    Hugh Morgan, the President of the Business Council of Australia (BCA), lashed out at a proposal by state attorney generals to prevent corporations from suing for defamation.

    Main Source: 
    Australian Financial Review, April 5, 2005

    Opposition to Fake News Grows

    by Diane Farsetta — March 25, 2005 - 5:21pm

    Jay Rosen posts "a unanimous resolution passed by the Boston University Journalism Faculty and circulated to other J-Schools by Bob Zelnick, the former ABC News correspondent" and self-described conservative.

    Main Source: 
    PressThink, March 24, 2005

    CMD & Free Press File 'Fake News' Complaint with FCC on Behalf of 40,000 Petition Signers

    by John Stauber — March 22, 2005 - 8:44am
  • Topics: Activism, Media, Public Relations

    • The Center for Media and Democracy and Free Press have filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission urging an investigation of the extensive airing of "fake news" by TV broadcasters who take government and corporate Video News Release (VNR) stories and run them unlabeled as real journalism. In just one week nearly 40,000 citizens have signed our petition calling on the FCC, Congress and local broadcasters to stop fake news.

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