Who Really Wants Truth In Broadcasting, Anyway?

The Senate Commerce Committee held hearings last week on the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967). This is a piece of sorely needed legislation whose necessity is downright depressing. The bill targets the Video News Releases (VNRs) that various departments of the federal government have produced and distributed to news broadcasters. The VNRs carried no disclosure that identify them as government produced. They were subsequently ruled to be in violation of the law against covert propaganda by the Government Accountability Office.

The fact that our government engages in such blatant propagandizing that a Truth in Broadcasting Act is necessary, is troubling in and of itself. But the version of the bill that made it out of committee so diluted its provisions as to make it almost useless. Diana Farsetta of the Center for Media and Democracy notes that:

First, the revised Act drops the continuous on-screen notification requirement for VNRs. Second, it calls for “clear notification within the text or audio of the prepackaged news story,” without specifying the minimum requirements for audience disclosure. Most troubling, it allows that disclosure to be removed altogether, following rules that the Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to develop.

In addition, the legislation appears to apply only when then entire VNR is broadcast. This means that if the broadcaster edits out a sliver of irrelevant content, the whole piece is exempt from any disclosure at all.

The FCC has been AWOL on these matters. The White House has been downright dismissive. They even advised federal agencies that they could ignore the GAO finding that VNRs were illegal propaganda because, the White House said, “…it didn’t apply.” Now the Senate has fallen off the bandwagon by voting out a bill that the propaganda merchants are hailing as a victory.

It’s not too late to influence the outcome of the bill. There has not yet been a complimentary bill in the House of Representatives, and the Senate bill still has to pass on the floor where it is subject to amendment. If our representatives in Washington hear from us in large enough numbers, they could be pressured to restore the provisions of the original draft. Write letters, make phone calls, and get your family and friends to do so as well. This is a fight we can win by painting opponents as pro-propaganda. And, while that’s what they actually are, I don’t think they want that sign around their necks.

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