A tragic tale ripped straight out of Yahoo! News:
“The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a $4,000 fine against Comcast Corp. for airing a pitch for a sleep aid without telling viewers that the spot was financed by the maker of the product.
The fine was in response to a complaint by the Center for Media and Democracy, a media watchdog group, which said it marks the first time a company has been sanctioned for airing a “video news release,” a type of programming it dubs “fake news.”
A video news release is a sponsored public relations video that mimics actual news reports. Such programs are common in broadcasting and are usually offered to news shows for free.”
The Center for Media and Democracy states on their site:
“The FCC’s action against Comcast is precedent setting. It firmly rejects the public relations industry’s argument that no disclosure is needed if television stations are not paid to air VNRs. Hopefully, the FCC will soon address the nearly 140 other undisclosed VNR broadcasts that were documented in CMD’s two reports, ‘Fake TV News‘ and ‘Still Not the News.’”
-PJT
