Publicist Kate Brookes "reports" on medical advancements for KSFY-13 in Sioux Falls, SD

If you thought an ongoing Federal Communications Commission investigation—launched in response to the Center for Media and Democracy's April 2006 report "Fake TV News"—would get fake news off your television screen, think again. CMD just released its follow-up report on video news releases (VNRs), the sponsored public relations videos designed to mimic news reports. The six-month investigation, titled, "Still Not the News: Stations Overwhelmingly Fail to Disclose VNRs," names 46 stations in 22 states that inserted corporate VNRs into their newscasts. Nearly 90 percent of the time, absolutely no attempt to provide any disclosure to viewers—even when VNRs dealt with controversial issues like global warming. Read the report, watch the videos of the original VNRs and the newscasts that incorporated them—and take action! The media reform group Free Press is urging concerned citizens to contact the FCC and demand an end to fake news.