Lisa,
So you know the motives of the journalists at this station? How is it you gained this valuable insight into the motives of weekend newscast producers? I don't pretend to understand your business, how is it you know the inner workings of a television newsroom and its feed services?
Thanks for writing in, Bruce. I appreciate your sharing your perspective although I disagree. Even as someone who has loved GM cars my whole life, and in particular their many gorgeous convertibles, I think that stations should not be palming off well-produced VNRs as "news." They're ads, even if they are "informational" ads.
Also, it wasn't really just an oversight by an affiliate. It was one of many VNRs distributed by FOX's "news" group to fill the precious few minutes devoted to "news" in news broadcasts across the country with thinly disguised advertising.
In a thirty minute evening news show, there may be only about 20 minutes (if that) of content: about a third ends up being weather (because it's more important for people to know the temperature is two degrees higher or lower in neraby towns, ad nauseum); about a third is sports (because, well, it's the only good "news" around and it's popular, even if it has little consequence related to your government or your rights); and about a third is left for news (which is mostly crime reports). So, in the six or seven minutes of news--compared with about ten minutes of expressly identified advertising--the station chose to air more advertising as if it were news. That's misleading. It also saves the station money from having real reporters cover real news, such as what is actually happening at city hall or the school board or what their congressional delegation is actually doing, beyond just headlines.
So, I disagree that it's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things. But, I do think the fines are too low.
Many thanks for taking the time to discuss this,
Also, the military apparently knew about this for at least a few years now to because they did some testing on patients in a veterans hospital a few years back that were originally diagnosed as having alzheimer’s disease, because the symptoms are nearly identical to those of alzheimers. If I recall correctly, somewhere around 6% of the patients that they thought had died of alzheimers had actually died of the human form of mad cow disease instead.
The reason that this seems to be such an unknown is that there is no set policy for testing alzheimers patients for mad cow disease at the time of their death. For those that don't know, the only definitive test for mad cow is to take a tissue sample from the affected areas and it is quite an expensive procedure. Until the government starts some sort of policy for testing alzheimers patients for mad cow disease at the time of their death, we may never know exactly how prevalent this problem really is in this country. thanks for the sharing / <a href="http://www.bigskyllc.com target=_blank" rel="follow">Church Construction </a>
Lisa,
So you know the motives of the journalists at this station? How is it you gained this valuable insight into the motives of weekend newscast producers? I don't pretend to understand your business, how is it you know the inner workings of a television newsroom and its feed services?
Now if they could fine the beckster for advocating for his sponsors. Yeah, I know, but it is friday and crazy things happen!
Thanks for writing in, Bruce. I appreciate your sharing your perspective although I disagree. Even as someone who has loved GM cars my whole life, and in particular their many gorgeous convertibles, I think that stations should not be palming off well-produced VNRs as "news." They're ads, even if they are "informational" ads.
Also, it wasn't really just an oversight by an affiliate. It was one of many VNRs distributed by FOX's "news" group to fill the precious few minutes devoted to "news" in news broadcasts across the country with thinly disguised advertising.
In a thirty minute evening news show, there may be only about 20 minutes (if that) of content: about a third ends up being weather (because it's more important for people to know the temperature is two degrees higher or lower in neraby towns, ad nauseum); about a third is sports (because, well, it's the only good "news" around and it's popular, even if it has little consequence related to your government or your rights); and about a third is left for news (which is mostly crime reports). So, in the six or seven minutes of news--compared with about ten minutes of expressly identified advertising--the station chose to air more advertising as if it were news. That's misleading. It also saves the station money from having real reporters cover real news, such as what is actually happening at city hall or the school board or what their congressional delegation is actually doing, beyond just headlines.
So, I disagree that it's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things. But, I do think the fines are too low.
Lisa
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