Back in April, the [tag]Center for Media and Democracy[/tag] released a report showing that corporations are producing [tag]fake-news[/tag] [tag]segments[/tag] — which amount to little more than mini-informercials masquerading as actual news — and TV stations are running them as if they were actual news reports, never disclosing the corporate role to viewers.
The Center found that 77 [tag]stations[/tag] nationwide had aired fake-news. What’s more, the report documented examples of stations’ reporters or anchors reading scripts supplied by the corporations, and in some instances, stations added their logo to the propaganda to make the segments appear more like actual news. The FCC, to its credit, began an investigation.
That was in the spring. Given the negative publicity and potential FCC punishment, one might assume the deceptive practice might, at a minimum, be curtailed temporarily. Alas, the problem is getting worse.
A six-month study by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Media and Democracy found that 46 stations in 22 states aired at least one “fake news” spot in a newscast without informing viewers about the origin of the segment. Of the 54 cases of video news releases being aired, the study said, 48 were aired with no disclosure about the source of the sponsored video and in six other cases, disclosure was “fleeting and often ambiguous,” the group found. […]
It’s not illegal for broadcast television stations to run video news releases – reports that are broadcast and presented as news but are actually corporate-sponsored and “reported” by PR firms. Under FCC rules, stations use rules similar to those that apply to infomercials and generally must simply disclose information about who sponsored the spot.
I’ve been critical of the Bush administration for pulling this stunt at public expense, but reports like these shift the onus back onto the media. These local TV stations have to be held responsible for their willful deceptions.
I understand the larger dynamic — the stations are cutting back funds for real journalism to stay profitable, so these fake-news segments fill in the gaps. But if they still want their news broadcasts to be called “news,” they’re going to have to stop this nonsense.
Keep in mind, this isn’t just corporate interests subtly inserting commercial messages into news casts. In key instances, this is about corporate interests creating fake-news segments that seek to influence public policy. For example, a few months ago, a public relations firm put together a video news release (read: fake news segment) titled, “Global Warming and Hurricanes: All Hot Air?” When the VNR ran on an ABC affiliate in Mississippi, viewers were never told that the segment was put together by a public-relations firm hired by ExxonMobil.
The VNR features Dr. William Gray and Dr. James J. O’Brien, who are identified as “two of the nation’s top weather and ocean scientists.” Gray denies that there’s any link between global warming and the severity of recent hurricane seasons. “We don’t think that’s the case,” he says. “This is the way nature sometimes works.” The VNR attributes increased hurricane activity to “the cycle of nature.”
In reality, the link between climate change and hurricane severity not been disproved. “No one doubts that since the early 1990s storms have increased in their intensity and no one doubts that average sea temperatures have increased slightly over the past 30 years,” explained Andrew Buncombe in an August 2006 article for The Independent. “Whether there is a link between these two phenomena remains unanswered.” […]
The TCS Daily VNR is correct in identifying Drs. Gray and O’Brien as meteorologists with extensive experience predicting hurricanes. However, Gray appears to have an ideological axe to grind with regard to climate change. In June 2006, he told the Denver Post that global warming is a “hoax,” something that “they’ve been brainwashing us [about] for 20 years.” […]
WTOK-11 anchor Tom Daniels introduced the segment by saying, “Hurricane seasons for the next 20 years could be severe. But don’t blame global warming.” Viewers were not told that what followed was nothing but hot air, paid by and scripted for oil company lobbyists.
Two FCC commissioners have pledged a new round of investigations. Don’t be surprised if the Democratic Congress starts asking some questions as well.