Flowery Fake News Deemed Evergreen [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
Valentine's Day is approaching, and the public relations industry is readying fake news [3] promotions for jewelry, candy, flowers and other traditional gifts. A February 8 press release [4] from the broadcast PR firm Medialink Worldwide [5] and the Flower Promotion Organization [6] reads, "More than 190 million stems of roses will be bestowed upon sweethearts in the U.S. While Cupid is busy keeping the love alive, it may take a flower doctor to help prolong the life of your beautiful blooms." Sound familiar? Medialink is currently promoting the exact same video news release [7] to television stations that it distributed this time last year. In February 2006, at least five TV stations [8] aired the flower flack package [9]. How many planted stories will bloom this year? If you see Dr. Bridget Behe [10] and the Flower MD website on your local news, please let us know.