What also happened this week - S.967 (VNR - Fake News) reported out

[MH1]

Hopefully this link to Tuesday's Daily Digest works:
12202005 Daily Digest

(I was trying to find text of yesterdays resolution that removed ANWR from Defense Bill, but yesterday's Daily Digest isn't up yet)

Measures Reported:

S. 967, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure that prepackaged news stories contain announcements that inform viewers that the information within was provided by the United States Government, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (S. Rept. No. 109-210)

This bill was introduced jointly by Kerry and Lautenberg, even though Lautenberg is listed as the sponsor. Interestingly, this is coming out of Ted Stevens' committee.

PR Watch / SourceWatch, of the Center for Media and Democracy, has been following this issue closely. I believe you can find some commentary on the committee hearings on their site, although I didn't have time to track it all down right now. Here's a link to some of their blog posts on the topic:
http://www.prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/120

ETA: I scrolled down and found that PR Watch is apparently NOT happy with what came out of committee. Oh well. Still it is Kerry news.

[ProSense]

1. Thanks for posting.

Glad to see the actual bill. Kerry and Lautenberg really pushed this. Here is Sen Lautenberg's response to my inquiry on the subject:

December 2, 2005

Dear

Thank you for contacting me about White House reporter James Guckert,
a.k.a. “Jeff Gannon.” I appreciate hearing from you, and apologize for the
delay in my response.

Jeff Gannon, then a reporter for the conservative Talon News, received
national attention for asking ‘softball’ questions of Press Secretary Scott
McClellan during White House press briefings. Gannon was ineligible for
permanent access to the briefing room because he was not credentialed by the
Congressional press galleries. Instead, the White House issued him daily passes for nearly two years.

This is just one of a series of incidents that signal this administration’s apparent willingness to mislead American citizens. I wrote to Scott McClellan in February, requesting that he release all relevant documents regarding how Jeff Gannon enjoyed such free access to the White House briefing room when he used an alias and worked for a questionable news source. I have repeatedly demanded answers in cases such as that of conservative commentator Armstrong Williams, whom the Department of Education paid to pass off positive comments about its policies as his own.

Finally, I have introduced legislation, which has just been reported
unanimously out of the Senate Commerce Committee, to require the administration to disclose itself as the source when it pays for or produces “prepackaged news” for broadcast in the United States. This “prepackaged news” is made to look like real news with a real reporter, and does not tell the viewer that it is actually information coming straight from the U.S. Government.

Please be assured that I will continue to fight disturbing efforts such as these by the administration to control public information. Thank you again for contacting me.




No delay apologies needed Senator (I wrote to him earlier this year).

I knew he was on the case.

[MH1]

2. Still needs pushing though - to fix the stripped down committee version.

This post at CMD explains:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/4105

If TV Week's right, though, the revised Act has no teeth, nails or protection for news audiences. For resource-strapped newsrooms, avoiding admitting that the report on the government you just broadcast actually came from the government would be as simple as shaving off a single sound bite.

But even with all these caveats, the fact that the revised Act did make it out of the Senate Commerce Committee is a step, however small, in the right direction. The legislative process is far from over, and the Act's language can be strengthened as easily as it was weakened -- if concerned citizens get involved.

According to observers of the committee meeting, the Act's main sponsors, Senators Lautenberg and Kerry, "tried to make it much stronger," but did not have the support of their colleagues. That can change if enough U.S. residents call or write their two Senators and Representative, to demand clear, conspicuous disclosure accompanying all video or audio footage coming from the government. In the case of VNRs, that must be a continuous, on-screen notification. For ANRs, that must be an announcement, prior to and/or following the provided audio.

The fight is far from over -- in fact, it just got more important. Get active and stay tuned.

Bill as introduced - http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s967is.txt.pdf (hope this link works, thomas and gpo are dicey for links)

Bill as reported from committee - http://commerce.senate.gov/pdf/s967asrptd.pdf

[ProSense]

3. I know, but at least there is action. IMO, Bush's putting out propaganda

is another abuse of power. The other activities, Gannon and payola, need to be investigated because I'm sure some illegalities were involved.