Public Relations

No-See-Um VNRs A "Crisis" For PR Industry

Kevin McCauley at O'Dwyers PR Daily writes that despite video news release producers' hopes that the debate over fake news "would just blow away," it has become a "crisis" for the industry. "A simple solution," he suggests, is labeling VNRs. "A corporate or government credit on video material wouldn't matter much to today's TV watchers, especially younger ones who are bombarded with advertising," he wrote.

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Sparks Fly Over Wal-Mart PR

After Hill & Knowlton contacted community newspaper editors on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores informing them "Wal-Mart representatives were available for interviews," Mike Buffington, the president of the National Newspaper Association (NMA), let fly. "So why is it that community newspapers in America are good enough to help you fend off critics with free PR, but we're not good enough for your paid advertising?

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Television News: Now, Even Faker!

"If viewers were confused before, they'll certainly have a hard time discerning news updates from mini-informercials now," writes Joe Mandese, on how Medialink Worldwide is "morphing" news and public relations. Medialink "says 'branded journalism' is the best way to advertise in a splintered market.

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A Reporter in Hand Is Worth Two in the Bush

Florida freelance television reporter Mike Vasilinda's public relations firm "has earned more than $100,000 over the past four years through contracts with Gov. Jeb Bush's office, the Secretary of State, the Department of Education and other government entities that are routinely part of Vasilinda's stories," while those stories aired on CNN and Florida NBC affiliates.

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All the News That's Just Fed

Why do local TV news stations use fake video news releases? Political science professor Marion Just and Tom Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism surveyed stations and found that the audience for TV news is shrinking, while "the companies that own these stations have generally continued to expect high earnings, usually profit margins in excess of 40 percent.

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Their Middle Name Is Accountability

The Government Accountability Office "said yesterday that they will investigate whether the Department of Health and Human Services violated that law by awarding a $21,500 contract to commentator and marriage advocate Maggie Gallagher." The GAO is currently looking into the legality of similar payments from the Dep

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