Commerce Considers VNR Labeling

The Senate Commerce Committee next week will consider a bill to mandate government identification on all packaged news releases it issues. S. 967, the Truth in Broadcasting Act of 2005, was introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg for, among others, Senators John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy, in the wake of the debate over government-produced VNRs on health care and education. The Government Accountability Office has said unattributed packaged VNRs violate a prohibition on "covert propaganda," while the Justice Department has said unattributed VNRs aren't covert propaganda as long as they are fact-based. The FCC does not require disclosure unless the VNR is on a political or controversial topic. The bill would mandate that the government put a label, "Produced By the U.S. Government" (the FCC could tweak the language and format as it saw fit) on all packaged video news releases, and that the label air during the entirety of the VNR. That bill prohibits the White House and federal agencies from producing video news releases for domestic consumption unless the package includes a "clear notification" within the text or audio disclosing that the prepackaged news story was prepared or funded by the government. But the disclaimer does not have to air during the entirety of the piece.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6269000.html?display=Breaking...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)