Last month, a report prepared by the [tag]Center for Media and Democracy[/tag] found 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 is not amused.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin ordered a probe of dozens of television stations after a report found they aired advertisements as if they were news reports, people familiar with the inquiry said.
The April study by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy found at least 77 stations, including seven each owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Tribune Co., ignored an FCC warning to disclose sponsors. The maximum fine for each violation is $32,500, rising to a maximum of $325,000 whenever violations occur for 10 days or more, FCC spokesman Clyde Ensslin said.
“If the investigation leads to significant fines, the [tag]FCC [/tag]could cause stations to put disclosures in place that make clearer the corporate role in local news,” said analyst Blair Levin of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in the District. “It depends how hard Martin wants to push it.”
With any luck, the FCC will pursue this as a serious issue. The corporations behind the fake-news segments — known as “video news releases” — are clearly trying to pull a fast one on the public, but the onus is on news outlets. I realize stations are cutting back funds for real journalism to stay profitable, and fake-news videos fill in the gaps, but if they still want their news broadcasts to be called “news,” this is going to have to stop.
Of course, if the FCC would also pursue stations that broadcast fake-news segments from the Bush administration, it’d be real progress, but I suspect I ask too much.