Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Public relations firms that produce video news releases (VNRs) aren't just targeting national news, writes Craig McGuire of PR Week. Increasingly, they're working to place their videos on local and cable stations as well as websites. "Today VNRs are much more than just broadcast placement tools.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
On October 20, the U.S.
Like much news that's damaging to the Bush administration, the report came out on a Friday.
Since then, it's gotten little media attention -- just 41 mentions in U.S. newspapers and wire stories, according to a news database search on October 11. That's remarkably sparse coverage for a story showing that the U.S. government has been engaged in illegal propaganda aimed at its own citizens.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
As part of a $300 million, three-year U.S. government effort encouraging seniors to sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug program, the PR firm Ketchum won a $25 million contract, including $2 million in fees, to manage the advertising campaign.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The Government Accountability Office ruled last week that several aspects of the public relations firm Ketchum's contract with the Department of Education were illegal, constituting "
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"The Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party," ruled the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. The GAO report, "the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities," found that the Department of Education contract with the Ketchum PR firm violated the ban on "covert propaganda." Objectionable activities include a video news release where PR flack Karen Ryan says the Bush tutoring program "gets an A-plus"; news monitoring to determine whether stories agree that "the Bush administration / the G.O.P. is committed to education"; and Armstrong Williams' newspaper columns and television spots praising the No Child Left Behind Act, without disclosing that he was paid by the Education Department. The GAO doesn't have enforcement powers, but reports to the White House and Congress.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
In an article on "the PR industry's scattered but heartfelt response to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina," PR Week notes that Harrah's Entertainment is documenting their good works.
On April 6, 2006, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a multi-media report titled, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed." It provides the most extensive account to date of how corporate-funded video news releases (VNRs) -- fake TV news -- are routinely aired by newsrooms, without disclosure, as though they were independently-gathered reports.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency produced and distributed a video news release, narrated by a former reporter, that promotes Governor Schwarzenegger's "plan to modify rules detailing when and how employers are to provide meal and rest breaks." The Los Angeles Times noted, "Un
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Thomas Lang and Zachary Roth have done some further sleuthing into the Education Department's video news release (VNR) that featured fake "reporter" Karen Ryan and promoted the No Child Left Behind law. "It turns out that the No Child Left Behind VNR, presented as news, ran more widely than we had thought - it's just that it didn't always include Karen Ryan," they write. "A number of local stations ran the VNR as is, and added a local twist by simply having their own reporter read the script.
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