Kerry to demand inquiry by FCC into ‘prepackaged news’ (Letter)

[truthpusher]

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=178

3/15/2005
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Sen. Kerry to demand inquiry by FCC into ‘prepackaged news’
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The following letter, drafted by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), will go out this afternoon to Federal Communications Chairman Michael Powell, demanding an inquiry into the role of government agencies in ‘prepackaged’ news provided to news networks. ‘Fake news’ was the subject of an extensive article Sunday in the New York Times.

Sen. Kerry’s letter follows.

March 15, 2005

The Honorable Michael Powell Chairman Federal Communications Commission Room 8-B201 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554

Dear Chairman Powell:

I am disturbed by recent press reports, including a New York Times article published on March 13, 2005, stating that prepackaged news reports produced by the federal government are being broadcast on local television stations across the country without an acknowledgment of the government’s role in their production.

It appears that federal agencies, in an increasingly common practice, are producing and distributing hundreds of television news segments, many of which are subsequently broadcast on local television stations throughout the country. Very often, these segments are being broadcast without properly revealing that they were written and produced by the federal government.

Broadcast industry standards already discourage the broadcast of prepackaged news segments. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) has sought to forbid federal agencies from creating prepackaged news reports “that conceal or do not clearly identify for the television viewing audience that the agency was the source of those materials.” Each year since 1951, Congress has enacted a government-wide prohibition on the use of appropriated funds for the purposes of “publicity or propaganda.” Yet this practice continues to flourish, and to make matters worse, the source of the information is not shared with the public.

complete story and letter here: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=178