Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
During a video news release (VNR) producers' roundtable discussion, Medialink's Larry Moskowitz suggested that "what The New York Times" and members of Congress "found venal" were VNR voice-overs, the scripted audio mimicking reporters' narration. So Medialink is "formulating a plan to advise government to not use a voice-over." Roundtable participants opposed on-screen disclosure, which the Truth in Broadcasting Act would require for government VNRs. "It's meant to create a question that it's not reporting," complained West Glen Communications' Stan Zeitlin. "It says that there's something phony about it, something that's not quite right." Alan Weiss Productions' Alan Weiss said "another production company" had used actors for supposedly unsolicited "people on the street" interviews. Weiss decried such "slanted" VNRs, satellite media tours and B-roll video footage, but added, "What's neat about our country is that there's no censorship. ... We are journalists if we're supplying videos to a journalistic organization."
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