PR Watch, Second Quarter 2005, Volume 12, No. 2

Flack Attack

This issue of PR Watch takes a look at fake news, specifically video news releases or VNRs. Since 1993, the Center for Media and Democracy, PR Watch's publisher, has been exposing VNRs and fake news as a tool of the public relations industry. Last year marked the first time the common use of VNRs broke into national headlines. But it wasn't until the March 13, 2005 New York Times front-page exposé on the Bush administration's use of VNRs that public outrage forced some political action.

Doctor Doctor, Give Me the News

by Daniel Price

Nobody puts out more video news releases than the healthcare industry. But their easy-to-swallow propaganda comes with side effects.

The Fake News Cycle

How does a video news release get from the drawing board to the six o'clock news? It takes a few good publicists and a few bad journalists. Here's the five-step process of a standard VNR:

Conception
The client has a message they want to get out to the public. They hire media consultants to find the best way to turn their product, service or agenda into a newsworthy item.

A Bumper Crop of Government-Produced 'News'

by Diane Farsetta

"Beef trade with Japan and Canada was on the minds of producers at the annual National Cattlemen's Beef Association convention in San Antonio, Texas," a man's voice intones, as the television news segment opens with a shot of a slowly rotating sign reading "U.S. Premium Beef." The voice continues, "Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns addressed the gathering and afterward took questions from the media."

Desperately Seeking Disclosure

by Diane Farsetta

In some ways, Armstrong Williams got a bad rap. The conservative commentator, who was paid by the U.S. Department of Education to advertise and advocate for the controversial "No Child Left Behind" law, lost his syndicated newspaper column and was pilloried for not disclosing the payment.

Williams did betray the public trust, but he was a small fry - a subcontractor receiving a $240,000 piece of a $1 million deal between the Education Department and Ketchum, one of the world's largest public relations firms.

Fake News? We Told You So, Ten Years Ago

by Sheldon Rampton

Will 'Fake News' Survive?

Public Relations

by Bob Burton

Will ongoing investigations and public outrage be sufficient to end the debased media practices that result in fake news?

Producers of the fake TV news stories, or video news releases, hope not. Some are worried, though. "Crisis" is the word Kevin McCauley of the public relations trade publication O'Dwyer's used in a March 2005 column.

How Green Is Camouflage?

by Laura Miller

The U.S. Army celebrated Earth Day this year with a special campaign called "Sustaining the Environment for a Secure Future." The effort's website features links to an "Army Earth Day" message, an Earth Day video promotion, computer screen wallpaper, and a commemorative poster.

CMD Takes Manhattan

CMD executive director John Stauber was joined by legendary journalist Bill Moyers at a "No Fake News!" reception for the Center in New York City.

FCC on 'Fake News'

by Diane Farsetta

"Listeners and viewers are entitled to know who seeks to persuade them," wrote the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in a Public Notice released in April.