Local Television’s Dirty Little Secret (they've been passing corporate promo videos off as news)

[DFLer4edu]

Local Television’s Dirty Little Secret

For the second time this year, Free Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) have revealed that corporate propaganda continues to infiltrate local television news across the country.

Stations are slipping corporate-sponsored “video news releases” — promotional segments designed to look like objective news reports — into their regular news programming. This deception is illegal under FCC rules.

CMD just released a new investigation that shows VNR abuse continuing unabated. The study, “Still Not the News,” snared 46 television stations, including several already being investigated by the FCC. This latest report follows an April 2006 CMD investigation that caught 77 local stations red-handed.
http://www.freepress.net/fakenews/

You really have to see this to believe it. My local fox station basically just lifted a promotional video by General Moters and put it on the air, virtually unedited. You should see the one they've got on global warming. The election may be over, but the fight goes on. Please give this a look and sign the petition.

[meisje]

1. Sinclaire Broadcasting has been doing this for a while

[DFLer4edu]

2. Since when? It's news to me

I've never got an email from freepress talking about it before. Doesn't suprise me, but there is a certain audacity to it.

[Red Zelda]

3. STOP watching local "news"

Besides, I don't need 25 minutes of weather and high school sports.

[DFLer4edu]

7. I don't watch local news

as even before they put in corporate promos in was a bunch of crap. But a lot of people do watch it. Stories like this one about global warming are devastating to environmental initiatives.

[htuttle]

4. Most local stations don't have 'health correspondents'...

...nor do they have 'fitness correspondents', 'automotive correspondents', etc...

When you see an unfamiliar reporter in some fluffy feature story on local news (or even network news at times), there's probably a 99% chance it's a corporate VNR.

Here's another good examination of this topic:

Toxic Sludge is Good For You
http://www.prwatch.org/tsigfy.html

Co-written by one of my hometown neighbors, John Stauber.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Sure.

I've seen local news air a James Dobson video about the dangers of gay marriage.

[nealmhughes]

6. Amy Goodman did a story on it a while ago when it first broke.