Frustrated by local TV news outlets that run "commercials disguised as news," an FCC commissioner wants to investigate stations that don't tell viewers they may be watching corporate propaganda instead of independently reported information.
KGO-TV, an ABC affiliate in San Francisco, was one of 46 stations in 22 states cited for improperly including video news releases, or VNRs, into news stories, according to a report released Tuesday by two watchdog groups Center for Media and Democracy and Free Press. Tuesday's report was a follow-up to an April study by the same organizations that found that 77 stations nationally -- including CBS 5-TV (KPIX) in San Francisco -- had improperly used VNRs. Representatives of both stations acknowledged erroneously using them and called them isolated incidents.
A VNR is a prepackaged segment that looks and sounds like journalistically reported information but is produced by either a public relations firm or a government body with a vested interest in the product or service being described.
While media advocates say including prepackaged material may not seem as serious when a TV news reporter is doing a fluffy feature piece on what kind of lipstick to wear, the implications could be more dire if the journalist broadcasts corporately produced information -- without critical examination or identification -- when reporting on a new treatment for liver cancer.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/15/MNGB4MCURM1.DTL
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