| Corporate ads aired as real news Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16444891&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16444891&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6
The Citizens Voice Fake news segment on dietary supplement aired on WNEP-TV, 76 other stations BY NICHOLE DOBO STAFF WRITER 04/07/2006 A local television station was one of 77 across the nation that aired fake news segments, according to a study by a Wisconsin-based media watchdog group.
WNEP-16 ran a news segment touting dietary supplements sold by Leiner Health Products — the same company that created the broadcast, according to a report released Thursday by the Center for Media and Democracy.
The Moosic-based station failed to disclose the origin of the segment to viewers during the Feb. 22 broadcast of the health company’s video news release, according to the report.
The television station is investigating the incident internally, said News Director Dennis Fisher in a statement on a WNEP online message board in response to a viewer’s question.
“We’re still looking into the matter, but early indications are we did use materials from the (video news release) in question,” Fisher said in the online statement.
The news station will fully inform viewers on-air and on its Web site of the incident after it completes the investigation, Fisher said in the online statement.
Efforts to reach Fisher were not successful. A spokesman from the station’s parent company, The New York Times Co., declined to comment until the investigation is complete.
Video news releases are often created by a public relations department hoping to drum up publicity for a product or company. The video news releases are often produced to look identical to an authentic news broadcast.
The Center for Media and Democracy found 98 separate incidents of fake newscasts across the nation during its 10-month investigation. Six Pennsylvania stations were cited in the report. Jonathan S. Adelstein, of the Federal Communications Commission called for a investigation into the use of video news releases without clear attribution at a joint news conference with the Center for Media and Democracy on Thursday.
“The concern arises when deception replaces disclosure — and when there is a failure to identify the source of broadcast material,” Adelstein said in a written statement. “That is a betrayal of public trust and the law.”
The Radio-Television News Directors Association ethics policy guidelines state that journalists must clearly disclose the origin of material that is not the product of the station’s news staff, said a statement released by Noreen Welle, association vice president.
ndobo@citizensvoice.com
©The Citizens Voice 2006
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