Public Relations

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Diane Farsetta, Center for Media and Democracy
October 11, 2007

In Brief

Despite mounting pressure from the public and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), television stations continue to air sponsored public relations videos without disclosure. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) identified three recent instances where a single television station aired video news releases (VNRs), which are sponsored segments designed to mimic genuine news reports.

McDeaths

An extract from Bob Burton's Inside Spin: The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry.

Cover of Inside Spin: The dark underbelly of the PR industryBrian Page, a 42-year-old railway worker, had been busy before Easter 1992 buying furniture for a house he had just moved into at Mt Pritchard, a south-western Sydney suburb. On their way home, his daughter Melissa wanted to stop at McDonald's in Fairfield for lunch. Shortly after returning home, Brian Page began vomiting and had diarrhoea. As Page's symptoms were initially indistinguishable from a bout of the flu, his doctor gave him a medical certificate and sent him home. Page took to bed for the next three days but on the fourth day went back to work, even though he wasn't feeling well. His boss noticed that Page was unable to write properly and seemed disoriented and confused by his work. He was so concerned about Page that he called a taxi and sent him home, but by then Page recognised something was seriously wrong and went straight to Liverpool Hospital. What was unknown to Page and his doctor was that he had been exposed to Legionella bacteria. If detected early, Legionnaires disease can be treated with antibiotics. Untreated, it can be a killer. Two days after being admitted to the intensive care unit of Liverpool Hospital, Page died. On what would have been his 43rd birthday, more than 100 family and friends attended his funeral.14

WGTU-29 Cultivates News Viewers for John Deere

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

The alert for a video news release (VNR) titled "A Tractor That Drives Itself" helpfully offers the following news hook: "Reduced tillage involves less fuel consumption when a tractor runs over the field fewer times and saves indirectly by reducing fertilizer requirements."

Story on High-Definition Systems Lacks Clarity

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Lori Puckett's job title at WGTU-29 (Traverse City / Cadillac, Mich.) is Production & Promotions Manager, but she also anchors the television station's evening news show. WGTU's website credits Puckett for her "creative and unique advertising concepts."

Station Lends News Viewers to Capital One

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

What are teenagers interested in? Music, friends, video games ... and discussing financial matters with their parents.

TV "Expert" Doesn't Disclose His Fellow Travelers

Florida's Broward County paid a travel writer $10,000 to mention Fort Lauderdale, "during a summer media tour that took him to 16 news stations in 37 days," reports the Miami Herald. Joel Widzer "seemed to have little trouble finding stations willing to interview him and air the footage of Fort Lauderdale's coral reefs and spas that the public relations firm, Plus Media, provided producers. A follow-up report ...

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