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Widespread and Undisclosed... How Corporate-Funded Propaganda Is Airing On Local Newscasts As "News"

A new study being released today by the Center for Media and Democracy reveals that at least 77 TV stations around the country have been caught airing corporate-sponsored propaganda disguised as news news releases in the past 10 months. Companies funding the video news releases include General Motors, Intel and Pfizer.

The stations are scattered throughout 30 states and are affiliated with all of the major networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. And many of the stations are owned by some of the country's largest media companies including Clear Channel, News Corp, Viacom, the Tribune Company and Sinclair Broadcast.

The study by the Center for Media and Democracy is called "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed" [Read Report]. The authors of the report charge that these TV stations actively disguise the corporate-sponsored content to make it appear to be their own reporting.

Until now, television news directors have downplayed how often VNRs made it onto air. Last year Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, compared VNRs to the Loch Ness monster. She said "Everyone talks about it, but not many people have actually seen it."

Today we are going to spend the hour looking at how fake news is making its way onto the airwaves of local newscasts. We will speak with the authors of the report, as well as a consultant who has appeared in several video news releases [See Part II of DN's Fake TV News Special] and with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein [See Part III of DN's Fake TV News Special] who has said he was stunned by the findings of Fake TV News report.

But first we will air some examples of how video news releases are used.

Four weeks ago, the Fox affiliate in South Bend Indiana aired a video news release produced by the PR company Medialink for General Motors. The video was narrated by Medialink's Andrew Schmertz. When the VNR aired on March 16, the local anchor introduced Andrew as if he were a Fox reporter.

• WSJV broadcast

That video news release aired on WSJV in South Bend Indiana. The station's news director, Ed Kral, declined to join us on today's program. He described it as an accident that the VNR aired as it did.

The same VNR aired on two other stations: KOSA Channel 7 in Odessa Texas and WWTV Channel 9 in Cadillac Michigan.

None of the three stations divulged to listeners that the feature was produced by Medialink and funded by General Motors. In fact, of the 87 VNR broadcasts documented in the Fake TV News study, not once did the TV station specifically disclose who funded the VNR to the news audience.

Medialink also produced a video news release about ethanol, funded by the company Siemans which supplies automation systems to two-thirds of the ethanol plants in the country. Medialink sent a publicist named Kate Brookes to Iowa to act like a reporter covering the story.

Here is part of the original Video News Release that was distributed by Medialink in January.

• Video news release from Medialink

At least five stations then took that corporate-funded VNR and broadcasted it. KTNV Channel 13 in Las Vegas aired it on January 19th.

• Watch broadcast from KTNV

That video news release is one of the 36 VNRs highlighted in the new study by the Center for Media and Democracy called Fake TV News. The authors of the study, Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, join us now in Washington for this broadcast exclusive interview. Welcome to Democracy Now!

• Diane Farsetta, senior researcher at the Center for Media and Democracy. She is co-author of the report, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed"

• Daniel Price, co-author of the Center for Media and Democracy's report "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed."

AMY GOODMAN: Today, we’re going to spend the hour looking at how fake news is making its way onto the airwaves of local newscasts. We’ll speak with the authors of the report, as well as a consultant who has appeared in several video news releases. And we’ll talk to F.C.C. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, who says he’s stunned by the findings of “Fake TV News” report.

JUAN GONZALEZ: But first, we will air some examples of how video news releases are used. Four weeks ago, the FOX affiliate in South Bend, Indiana, aired a video news release produced by the P.R. company Medialink for General Motors. The video was narrated by Medialink’s Andrew Schmertz. When the VNR aired on March 16, a local anchor introduced Schmertz as if he were a FOX reporter.

FOX ANCHOR: Many of you know computers have changed our lives in so many ways, from entertainment to transportation. They’ve even affected jobs. FOX’s Andrew Schmertz looks at one surprising career that has evolved along with the computer.

ANDREW SCHMERTZ: Are you looking for a great paying job where recruits are in high demand and there’s no chance of the work being sent overseas? Who isn't, right? Well, pay attention next time you take your car into the dealer for maintenance or repair.

AMY GOODMAN: That video news release aired on WSJV in South Bend, Indiana. The station's news director, Ed Kral, declined to join us on today's program. He described it as an accident that the VNR aired as it did. The same VNR aired on two other stations: KOSA Channel 7 in Odessa, Texas, and WWTV Channel 9 in Cadillac, Michigan. None of the three stations divulged to viewers that the feature was produced by Medialink and funded by General Motors. In fact, of the 87 video news release broadcasts documented in the “Fake TV News” study, not once did the TV station specifically disclose who funded the VNR to the news audience.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Medialink also produced a video news release about ethanol, funded by the company Siemens, which supplies automation systems to two-thirds of the ethanol plants in the country. Medialink sent a publicist named Kate Brookes to Iowa to act like a reporter covering the story. Here's part of the original video news release that was distributed by Medialink in January.

KATE BROOKES: With this better market comes the need for greater efficiency at ethanol plants.

SPOKESPERSON: Automation technologies help the producers make ethanol more efficiently. As the demand for ethanol grows, the producers rely more and more on automation technologies to help them meet their goals in the industry.

AL JENTZ, Plant Manager, Amaizing Energy: The growth is phenomenal, and with the renewable fuel standard bill, we are looking at expanding this plant here hopefully within the next 12 to 18 months.

KATE BROOKES: To date there is more than a hundred ethanol plants here in the United States. But as the demand for renewable fuels continues to rise and as the technologies to help produce them continue to improve, it’s expected that number will grow, perhaps even double in the years ahead. I'm Kate Brookes.

AMY GOODMAN: So that was the video news release. At least five stations then took that corporate-funded VNR and broadcast it. KTNV Channel 13 in Las Vegas, aired it on January 19.

DAVID REISZ, Farmer: For our operations it’s like a dream come true, you know. We used to farm this ground where the plant sits, and it just makes a better market for our corn.

KATE BROOKES: To date there is more than a hundred ethanol plants here in the United States. But as the demand for renewable fuels continues to rise and as the technologies to help produce them continue to improve, it’s expected that number will grow, perhaps even double in the years ahead. I'm Kate Brookes.

AMY GOODMAN: That video news release is one of 36 VNRs highlighted in the new study by the Center for Media and Democracy. The report is called "Fake TV News.” The authors of the study are Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price. They join us now in Washington for this broadcast exclusive. Welcome to Democracy Now!

DIANE FARSETTA: Thanks for having us.

DANIEL PRICE: Hi.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us, Diane and Daniel. Diane Farsetta, you’re the senior researcher at the Center for Media and Democracy, co-author of this report. Explain how -- well, the subtitle of your study is how “widespread and undisclosed” this is.

DIANE FARSETTA: Well, we would say, as you mentioned earlier, there were 36 different video news releases that we tracked, in terms of how the television news rooms used those. We found 77 different stations total that aired those VNRs or related canned interviews called satellite media tours, including stations in the largest market. We saw 13 stations in the ten largest media markets in the United States. We added up what percentage of the U.S. population is in the broadcast area of those markets. It’s something like 53% of the U.S. population. So that gives you a sense of how widespread it is. Undisclosed of the 98 different total broadcasts of fake news that we saw, not once did the station tell the viewing audience, ‘This was funded by Siemens. This was funded by Pfizer.’ And that's what we see in terms -- but that's what we’re saying would be meaningful disclosure. We saw two instances of partial disclosure, but the clients were not named in those cases.