30,
November 2006 Bogus News
The Center for Media and Democracy exposed another major threat to
our democracy. a damning report of 46 stations in 22 states using bogus new
clips disguised as news reports. These Video News Releases, or VNR’s, are
carefully crafted to confuse the public in believing the prepackaged views of
‘experts’ beamed into our living rooms is delivered real time. Although the
number of VNR’s is down from a high of 77 stations last April, this practice
shows no signs of letting up. The clips appear on the 6 ’clock news to promote
commercial products or political messages.
Large media conglomerates, such as Disney, News Corp. and the
Tribune have been identified and are funded by the country’s largest
corporations such as, Allstate Insurance, General Motors and GlaxoSmithKline.
Public Relations firms, the hired guns, of this insidious practice, have
sunk to new lows in promoting these corporate agendas. Sadly, corporate profits
always seem to take precedence over the greater good. For example, the PR
firm Medialink Worldwide, contracted a VNR production with “TCS Daily Science
Roundtable” to challenge the ‘uncomfortable truth’ of global warming. It is
outrageous that these attempts to influence public opinion by “fake reporters”
are often paid by our tax dollars, I ask concerned readers to contact lawmakers
and demand the Federal Communications Commission call an immediate halt to this
gross abuse of the public airways.
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