Fake News for the Masses [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
The migration of sponsored video news releases [3] (VNRs) and B-roll [4] footage from television stations to websites [5] is increasing. Major companies are "bypassing the press and going directly to the masses," in part because of increased scrutiny [6] of fake news [7], according to Brandweek. An Allstate [8] representative said posting the videos to their website "started as an experiment," but is now the norm. General Motors [9]'s director of broadcast communications explained, "We're just trying to get impressions out." Bev Yehuda of the PR firm MultiVu [10] agreed: "Our customers are no longer reliant on broadcasters to tell their stories." In related news, the Recording Industry Association of America [11] (RIAA) marked the holiday season with "a series of initiatives [12] to offer consumers tips for avoiding pirated music," including an alarmist VNR. As Consumerist.com noted [13], the RIAA video was "leaked (promoted?) heavily by the [public relations] company that produced it," so "keep your bullshit 'stealth marketing' sensors up."