Fake TV News

Fake Interviews for Everything?

by Diane Farsetta — October 18, 2007 - 1:47pm

"There's sensitivity to sponsored news right now," admits KEF Media Associates' Yvonne Goforth, adding that her firm is doing more to target satellite media tours (SMTs) -- sponsored and often scripted television "interviews" -- to local TV stations.

Main Source: 
PR Week, October 8, 2007

An Ethical Look at Fake News

by Diane Farsetta — October 17, 2007 - 8:56am
  • Topics: Journalism, Video News Releases, Ethics, Fake TV News, Public Relations

    • "I love Red Cross, but I don't trust them completely when they're the ones shooting the video," explained journalism professor and Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) ethics committee member Jerry Dunklee.

    Dunklee was speaking at SPJ's recent convention, on a panel titled "Paid and Played: The Ethics of Using Video News Releases." His remarks focused on the ethical issues raised by VNRs. Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) executive director John Stauber and Jim Bayse of the firm Wiley Rein, which represents the Radio-Television News Directors Association, were also on the panel.

    Much of the VNR debate is currently focused on legal and policy issues: speculation over what the Federal Communications Commission really meant by fining Comcast for five undisclosed VNRs, and what the agency is likely to do next. But it's also important to address the ethical implications of VNRs. Dunklee did so by relating sometimes abstract guidelines to real-world situations he faced as a reporter and news director in cable and broadcast television.

    Want To Know Fake News When You See It?

    by Diane Farsetta — October 11, 2007 - 8:40am

    The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) today reported on three recent instances where a single television station aired entire, pre-packaged video news releases (VNRs).

    Main Source: 
    Center for Media and Democracy, October 11, 2007

    TV "Expert" Doesn't Disclose His Fellow Travelers

    by Diane Farsetta — October 8, 2007 - 11:48am

    Florida's Broward County paid a travel writer $10,000 to mention Fort Lauderdale, "during a summer media tour that took him to 16 news stations in 37 days," reports the Miami Herald. Joel Widzer "seemed to have little trouble finding stations willing to interview him and air the footage of Fort Lauderdale's coral reefs and spas that the public relations firm, Plus Media, provided producers. A follow-up report ...

    Main Source: 
    Miami Herald, October 7, 2007

    Press release: October 5 Fake TV News Debate Heats Up

    by Diane Farsetta — October 2, 2007 - 4:15pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Video News Releases, Fake TV News, Lobbying

    • Contact:
    John Stauber, (608) 279-4044
    Diane Farsetta, (608) 260-9713


    Fake TV News Debate Heats Up

    Public Debate Between CMD and Broadcast Lobbyist Comes After First-Ever FCC Fines

    Four More Fines for Fake News: FCC Says VNRs Are "Valuable Consideration"

    by Diane Farsetta — October 1, 2007 - 6:53pm
  • Topics: Video News Releases, Corporations, Fake TV News, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced four more fines against Comcast, for its cable channel CN8 having aired multiple video news releases (VNRs) without disclosure. But the bigger story is the FCC's reasoning behind the fines.

    A First for the FCC: Fining Fake News!

    by Diane Farsetta — September 24, 2007 - 4:38pm
  • Topics: Video News Releases, Fake TV News, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • The VNR that cost Comcast $4,000The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on September 21 that it was fining Comcast Corp. $4,000 for its cable channel CN8's broadcast of fake TV news, a video news release (VNR) without disclosure.

    The Comcast fine is the first-ever sanction for airing a VNR, a sponsored PR video that mimics the structure and style of television news reports. The fine is a direct result of Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) investigations, and of a joint complaint filed with the FCC by CMD and Free Press.

    The FCC's action against Comcast is precedent setting. It firmly rejects the public relations industry's argument that no disclosure is needed if television stations are not paid to air VNRs. Hopefully, the FCC will soon address the nearly 140 other undisclosed VNR broadcasts that were documented in CMD's two reports, "Fake TV News" and "Still Not the News."

    "Inside Spin" as Media Self-Defense

    by Diane Farsetta — August 29, 2007 - 8:52am

    In a review of SourceWatch editor Bob Burton's new book, "Inside Spin: The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry," New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager writes that "its hair-raising stories help us see what is reasonable and what is harmful and unethical

    Main Source: 
    Sunday Star Times (New Zealand), August 26, 2007

    The Other Half of the Nuclear Industry's Power Couple: Christine Todd Whitman

    by Diane Farsetta — August 27, 2007 - 8:37am
  • Topics: Front Groups, Nuclear Power, Corporations, Fake TV News, Health, Lobbying, Public Relations

    • "Was it wrong to try to get the city back on its feet as quickly as possible?" an exasperated Christine Todd Whitman asked members of Congress. The occasion was Whitman's first appearance before the House subcommittee investigating her handling of New York air quality issues post-9/11, when she headed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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