Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"The American media establishment has launched a major offensive against the option of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq," writes Norman Solomon. As an example, he cites a recent New York Times story by Michael Gordon which claims that many of "the most vehement critics of the Bush administration’s Iraq policies" believe withdrawal would be irresponsible.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
A coalition of unions, women's and health groups have been granted intervenor status in a case in which CanWest MediaWorks is seeking to overturn the Canadian government's ban on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). The groups argue that if CanWest is successful it would push up healthcare costs and undermine the sustainability of the Canadian healthcare system.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Speaking to journalists at a conference in Tokyo, News Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rupert Murdoch, downplayed the death toll following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003. "The death toll, certainly of Americans there, by the terms of any previous war are quite minute," he said. "I believe it was right to go in there.
The Dixie Chicks, that is.
This isn't the first time that big media companies have barred them from the
airwaves, but it is the first time that NBC and the new CW network have. It
appears that once again the Dixie Chicks have exhibited public disapproval of
the Bush administration and once again the media have answered by censoring
them. This bodes ill for the future of free speech, at least what's left of it
in America.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a government-funded public broadcaster, has axed a popular weekly satirical current affairs program after one of its co-hosts, Corinne Grant, participated in protests against draconian changes to industrial relations laws.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Air America Radio, the progressive talk radio network which recently filed for bankruptcy, is considering syndicating a radio show co-hosted by Armstrong Williams. Williams co-hosts a morning drive-time program with Sam Greenfield on the New York radio station WWRL.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Media consolidation comes at the expense of ethnic diversity and serving the interests of women and minorities, according to several academic studies recently released by the Benton Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. A study by Dr. Carolyn Byerly of Howard University examined U.S.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer has disclosed that the Australian government contributed $A12,023 ($US9,150) towards the costs of a five-day speaking tour by the conservative Canadian commentator Mark Steyn.
Recently a new lobby group, the [[National Association of Broadcast Communicators]] (NABC), was launched to try to convince federal regulators, media policy wonks and the general public that they shouldn't worry about television stations airing undisclosed [[video news releases]] (VNRs). The NABC and their allies at the [[Public Relations Society of America]] and the [[Radio-Television News Directors Association]] went even further, wrapping the covert broadcast of corporate- and government-funded [[fake news]] segments in the U.S. flag.
Ever the optimist, I'm looking forward to the day when these groups have considered the issue more closely and carefully, and have come to appreciate the important role that news -- especially that broadcast over the public airwaves to a mass audience -- plays in a democracy. The following is the statement that NABC might well issue, on that sunny day. (Satire alert!)
VNR Producers Apologize for News Audiences Being Misled
We are sorry. Very sorry. For many years we have been very well paid to produce thousands of video news releases (VNRs) that have been circulated among and promoted to television stations far and wide -- many within the United States, others around the world. Some of these VNRs featured our PR staff posing on screen as "reporters." For every VNR, we assumed the role of reporters, with a twist -- only "reporting" what complemented our clients' marketing, PR or policy agendas.
We knew all along that television stations aired many of these VNRs in their entirety, without disclosing to viewers that the segment actually came from a PR firm. Sometimes TV stations' local reporters re-voiced the script we provided. Sometimes stations spliced and diced our video, but they largely followed the sponsored storyline that they had been fed. However, there were times when our plans backfired and stations used our VNRs to criticize our clients. (You really don't want to know how we explained that away!)
And you, the television viewers, were none the wiser that you were watching fake news.
Decades ago, when a few companies first started producing VNRs, there was little discussion about the ethical implications of their use. We saw VNRs as just one of many PR tricks to help our clients. However, in the last few years there has been significant public debate over the ethics of what has become a substantial sector of the PR industry. There have been petitions, reports, numerous scathing news stories, legislative amendments, and now an investigation by the U.S. [[Federal Communications Commission]].
Under such conditions, the normal response of industry is to hunker down and try and defend the indefensible. We have decided to be smarter and better than that.
We decided that this crisis provides an opportunity for us to reflect on what we have done and where we go from here. We now realize that the wholesale deception of TV news viewers by undisclosed VNRs was wrong and constituted a grievous breach of ethical standards, not to mention TV stations' license agreements. We would like to take this opportunity to offer our heartfelt thanks to the Center for Media and Democracy and Free Press, for raising the issue publicly and helping us realize the error of our ways.
We recognize that this apology is just the first small step in rectifying the damage we have done to the quality and credibility of television news programming. We have also decided to spell out our mistakes, in the hopes that our current and future colleagues will learn from them.
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