Heard Any Fake News Lately?

Antique radioPR Week's "PR Toolbox" column has some helpful hints for placing audio news releases (ANRs), the radio cousin of video news releases (VNRs). "The use of guaranteed airings has become an attractive option for clients," says Christopher Sweet of VNR-1 Communications. With "guaranteed airings," Sweet explains, "spot time is purchased, but the ANR airs in its entirety during a prime-time news segment. The result is an airing which is sufficiently embedded in news programming and garners all the potential audience numbers the network of choice has to offer." Sweet suggests that interested companies hire "broadcast PR vendors with strong radio-network relationships" to find a "guaranteed airings system that suits your concept and budget." The column does not mention how to ensure listeners' right to know that such segments are sponsored PR material.