{"id":76,"date":"2005-10-27T22:38:59","date_gmt":"2005-10-28T05:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=76"},"modified":"2006-10-14T20:59:35","modified_gmt":"2006-10-15T03:59:35","slug":"who-really-wants-truth-in-broadcasting-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=76","title":{"rendered":"Who Really Wants Truth In Broadcasting, Anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Senate Commerce Committee held hearings last week on the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967<\/a>). This is a piece of sorely needed legislation whose necessity is downright depressing. The bill targets the Video News Releases<\/a> (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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> that made it out of committee so diluted its provisions as to make it almost useless. Diana Farsetta<\/a> of the Center for Media and Democracy notes that:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition, the legislation appears to apply only when then entire<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/em>” Now the Senate has fallen off the bandwagon by voting out a bill that the propaganda merchants are hailing as a victory.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-propaganda"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-1e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":309,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=309","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":0},"title":"White House Orders Propaganda Broadcasts","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/23\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\"No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by Congress.\" Since 1951, that prohibition on the funding of propaganda within the U. S. has been enacted annually. It's a straight forward\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":321,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=321","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":1},"title":"The Same Kenneth Tomlinson","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/16\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The irrepressibly corrupt Kenneth Tomlinson has informed the White House that he will not seek renomination as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). This is the same Kenneth Tomlinson that \"improperly used his office, putting a friend on the payroll and running a \"horse-racing operation\" with government resources.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":80,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=80","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":2},"title":"Corporation For Propaganda Broadcasting: Update","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/16\/2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The long-awaited report by the Inspector General of the Corporation For Public Broadcasting (CPB) was released yesterday and it confirms the unethical and illegal behavior of the CPB's former chairman. Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who sheepishly resigned from the board in advance of the report's release, was found to have violated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=49","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":3},"title":"The Corporation For Propaganda Broadcasting","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/10\/2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Can the propaganda machine get any more obvious? A former co-chairman of the Republican National Committee is the leading candidate to take over the agency that funds public broadcasting, sparking new concerns among broadcasters about conservative influence over National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service programming. Patricia de Stacy Harrison,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":222,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=222","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":4},"title":"Once A Corrupt Crony, Always…","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/3\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The disgraced former head of the Corporation for Public Propaganda Broadcasting was caught again with his hand in the till. The Washington Post reporting on the incorrigible Kenneth Tomlinson: \"A year-long State Department investigation has found that the chairman of the agency that oversees Voice of America and other government\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":972,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=972","url_meta":{"origin":76,"position":5},"title":"Bush Nominates Clifford May To Propaganda Board","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/12\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is the federal agency responsible for all U.S. government and government sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting. Its affiliates include the Voice of America, Alhurra, Radio Free Europe, and Radio and TV Mart\u00c3\u00ad. If its mission was not originally intended to be a purveyor of propaganda,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}