FCC Commissioners Pledge Expanded Inquiry Into Fake News [1]
Submitted by Bob Burton [2] on
Federal Communication Commissioner [3]s (FCC) Michael Copps [4] and Jonathan Adelstein [5] have promised an investigation into each of the 46 television stations revealed by the Center for Media and Democracy's report, Still Not the News [6] to have used undisclosed video news releases [7] (VNRs). Democracy Now presenter, Amy Goodman, found it difficult getting a comment from any of the stations. Fifteen declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries while San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB-TV [8] stated a VNR they used should not have been aired without disclosure. The Radio-Television News Directors Association [9] and the newly-minted VNR-industry lobby group, the National Association of Broadcast Communicators [10], both declined to be interviewed. O'Dwyer's PR Daily reported Copps praised CMD for its "hard work" in producing the report. Adelstein criticized television stations for broadcasting "corporate propaganda" and flagged the need for tighter FCC regulation. "If the flock ignores the shepherd, it is time to build a fence," he said.