For a completely unbiased, independent source definitely not paying me cold hard cash, this is odinsdream, reporting.

April 14, 2005 12:30 PM

Hey! Good news!(pdf) The FCC recently issued notices that broadcasters must disclose the source of Video News Releases, or VNR's, which, if you haven't already heard, "... are essentially prepackaged news stories, that may use actors to play reporters and include suggested scripts to introduce the stories."

From the notice: "... listeners and viewers are entitled to know who seeks to persuade them with the programming offered over broadcast stations and cable systems." The GAO has issued cautionary notices about VNR's before as a response to complaints that several government agencies were walking fine lines with their "news" productions.
posted by odinsdream (10 comments total)

Wow, so now when the government does this, it will not only be breaking the law, but also FCC regulations? Gosh! That should convince them to stop breaking the law.
posted by jlub at 12:46 PM on April 14, 2005

Okay... so my definition of "good news" has required adjustment lately what with all the insanity.
posted by odinsdream at 1:05 PM on April 14, 2005

Frankly I'm kind of surprised that the various news agencies haven't been using _each other's_ use of VNRs as fodder for their own stories. "NBC News Affiliates Using Unattributed VNRs, Story at 11" would seem to make a great ABC News headline. I guess it's all just kind of one big club.

(puts on rose-tinted glasses) Maybe the FCC notice will make these kinds of abuses harder to ignore, at least.
posted by gurple at 1:06 PM on April 14, 2005

Awesome. These have been a weak, lazy point for my broadcast brethren for a long time, and I'm glad to see 'em go.
Gurple: No one would do that because they a) save money and b) hey, EVERYONE does it...
I'm not generally pro-government in speech (or even pro FCC) but this is good.
Maybe not FPP good, but good enough.
posted by klangklangston at 2:12 PM on April 14, 2005

I don't have any rose-tinted glasses.

This 'disclosure' crap is just acknowledgment that its okay for "special interest groups" (or whatever the trendy phrase of the moment is) to create propaganda and pass it off as newsworthy. A century ago we had a blanket phrase for anything remotely like this: yellow journalism. Today, we have government organizations saying that certain kinds of yellow journalism are okay, so long as the media's up front about its bias.

Those smart enough to care can already tell the difference, and those who don't care, or aren't smart enough? Well they're not smart enough to care, so they'll continue believing what they choose to believe. Whether you believe in Fox News or NPR, you pick and choose the news that suits you. Adding a blurb in a corner somewhere, or telling Katie Couric that she has to squeeze in, "the preceding blah blah was brought to you by blah blah organization" before the commercial break is not gonna make a bit of difference.

Most people who still watch news media do the same with it that most people have done with religious dogma for millenia: you take what you want to accept and dismiss the rest. I don't see any of this as a good thing. I don't know if it's a bad thing. It's just par for the course. Odin's Dream is right. One's definition of 'good news' keeps getting subjectively redefined as we go.

Two lobsters sit in a big pot of water that's slowly getting warmer, and one says the other one, "hey, could be worse. At least we're not in a microwave." Insert your own laugh track here if you want, but I ain't laughin'.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:30 PM on April 14, 2005

What, does anyone who watches television news still think that the reporters are talking about what actually happened that day? Isn't everyone aware that news television is just homogenous corporate manipulation, designed to sell fried chicken and Toyotas?

Sorry, folks. REAL news went away some time ago. NPR is the closest we got...
posted by TheStorm at 2:55 PM on April 14, 2005

Speaking of "real" news: Today President George W. Bush followed his dinner with two scoops of Mama Lucy’s Chocolate Ice Cream. This is not a new thing. Since his inauguration, the President has really enjoyed ice cream a lot!--by Elizabeth Bumiller, NYT ; >
posted by amberglow at 3:13 PM on April 14, 2005

The BBC should totally have a cable network.
posted by eustacescrubb at 6:29 PM on April 14, 2005

eustacescrubb: You know they do, right?
posted by nTeleKy at 7:14 AM on April 15, 2005

Zachsmind: No, yellow journalism is something else. Yellow journalism is sensationalism created to sell papers, which often plays fast and loose with the facts. It's named for the Yellow Kid, whose creator Hearst stole from Pulitzer as a huge publicity coup.
These VNRs have been around for over 20 years. Mandating a visible notice of the source will make news organizations more skittish about using them.
Jesus, I know that you just wanna do your little wingnut dance, but can you come back to earth for a little bit?
posted by klangklangston at 8:17 AM on April 15, 2005