Tuesday April 19, 2005

Stop Me Before I Lie Again

I admit that I was initially confused by the tough talk coming out of the FCC about the labeling of video news releases (VNRs). The commission, now under the command of Bush lapdog Kevin Martin, issued a tersely worded notice last week, reminding broadcasters of their duty to disclose the sources of VNRs—even if that source is, as it so often has been lately, the Bush administration.

At first glance, this warning seems at odds with the interests of the White House, which would presumably like all manner of propaganda passed off as news. The very next day, however, Bush tried out a similar message in front of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. According to TelevisionWeek, the president seized the occasion to pass the buck to broadcasters:

It’s incumbent upon people who use them to say, “This clip was produced by the federal government.” There needs to be full disclosure about the sourcing of the video news clip in order to make sure that people don’t think their taxpayers’ money is being used—in a wrong fashion.

Translation? “Stop me before I lie again.”

As the Senate moves to prohibit the production of government-sponsored VNRs that are not labeled as such—and as the administration continues to create VNRs with taxpayer dollars, despite a finding by the Government Accountability Office that such advocacy is illegal—the administration seems intent on blaming broadcasters—who of course do share some of the blame—and Martin’s FCC is more than willing to help. In fact, last week’s notice from the Commission explicitly begged off on the issue of whether or not the government should be sponsoring VNRs at all, claiming the issue to be “beyond the Commission’s jurisdiction.” The FCC’s notice has been hailed as an important step forward, but really it’s just business as usual.

Posted by jim at 01:46 PM ||