Fake News as Free Speech [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
PR Week reports on the video news release [3] industry's response to Senator Byrd [4]'s one-year measure [5] and the Truth in Broadcasting Act [6], both of which require disclaimers for pre-packaged "news [7]" segments. The CEO of D S Simon Productions [8] believes "the temporary amendment was preferable to the permanent ban because it is tied to specific spending." The CEO of Medialink [9] said of the Truth in Broadcasting Act, "I think this is a law written by people not in the broadcasting or PR business," and warned that the legislation "could limit free speech." The president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association [10] called the legislation "unnecessary," since the "accepted standard is to clearly identify material from outside sources." She also said that "government regulation of news content" would be "unprecedented and unconstitutional."