Media

Follow the Money, Eh? Canadian Reporters' Glowing Failure

Patrick Moore"Much of the environmental movement, including Greenpeace, has lost its way when it comes to nuclear power, caught up in politically correct ideology and stooping to sensationalism to garner support," declared a recent media alert announcing the visit of one-time Greenpeace activist Patrick Moore to Toronto. The alert continued, "In Ontario, CANDU nuclear energy is the greatest single contributor to carbon reduction relative to all other energy producing technologies."

Australian Government Lays Information Smokescreen

Submitted by Bob Burton on

Faced with opposition to increasing government secrecy by Australia's Right to Know, a coalition of Australian media companies and the journalists' union, the Australian Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, has announced a review of the

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Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, September 25, 2007
Topics: 
Journalism
Issue Management
Democracy
International
Media
Secrecy

A First for the FCC: Fining Fake News!

The VNR that cost Comcast $4,000The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on September 21 that it was fining Comcast Corp. $4,000 for its cable channel CN8's broadcast of fake TV news, a video news release (VNR) without disclosure.

The Comcast fine is the first-ever sanction for airing a VNR, a sponsored PR video that mimics the structure and style of television news reports. The fine is a direct result of Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) investigations, and of a joint complaint filed with the FCC by CMD and Free Press.

The FCC's action against Comcast is precedent setting. It firmly rejects the public relations industry's argument that no disclosure is needed if television stations are not paid to air VNRs. Hopefully, the FCC will soon address the nearly 140 other undisclosed VNR broadcasts that were documented in CMD's two reports, "Fake TV News" and "Still Not the News."

Animated Paper Clip Seeks Help in Establishing Front Groups

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Alarmed at its rival Google's proposed purchase of the internet marketing firm DoubleClick, Microsoft is seeking to stoke opposition to the deal through its PR firm, Burson-Marsteller (B-M).

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Main Source: 
The Observer (UK), September 23, 2007
Topics: 
Internet
Front Groups
Corporations
International
Public Relations

When Local Radio News Isn't

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

An academic study of "outsourced" radio news -- when "big-city radio stations produce and package local news stories for sister stations in distant markets" -- concluded that the practice has drastically changed the news landscape. University of Colorado journalism professor Lee Hood found that more than 40% of radio stations now do news for stations outside their own market.

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Main Source: 
University of Colorado at Boulder, September 17, 2007
Topics: 
Journalism
Corporations

Lobbyists Do the Darndest Things

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"Lobbyists for a business group close to the crooked government of Azerbaijan have scheduled what looks to be" a National Press Club event for a front group, according to Harper's Ken Silverstein. The event features members of the "Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan" (ACSDA), and was organized by the lobbying firm Bob Lawrence & Associates.

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Main Source: 
Harper's magazine, September 17, 2007
Topics: 
Front Groups
International
Lobbying
Media

Conservative Media Bias

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Media Matters for America, the liberal media watchdog organization, has conducted a systematic study of the commentary sections in U.S. newspapers. "The results show that in paper after paper, state after state, and region after region, conservative syndicated columnists get more space than their progressive counterparts," they conclude. "Sixty percent of the nation's daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists every week than progressive syndicated columnists."

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Main Source: 
Media Matters for America, September 12, 2007
Topics: 
Right Wing
Media

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