More+Facts+and+Personal+Opinion

= = = = = As stated before the reason for the sudden and increasing use of Video News Release is money. News stations these days are doing anything to increase productivity while paying as less as they can and also becoming more credible. VNRs are the perfect solution for local stations to add into their news feed because of their small production costs and time slots. I don’t think it’s ethical to display fake news just because it is a cheap solution. I think news companies these days are doing whatever it takes to be on top and it’s ruining the quality of their work. Money is becoming too much of an issue in society these days that companies are willing to do almost anything to make a quick buck. So why is the public and FCC all of a sudden having issue with VNRs when they been around since the 1980’s? In 2004 the Bush administration were criticized for distributing pro administrative Video News Release which many local stations actually aired. This caught the FCC’s eye and have been scrutinizing Video News Release ever since. This stuck out at me because it literally made me think “Wait a minute so VNRs have been doing this for close to 20 years and were now just starting to notice. How many times has the public been lied to and have no idea. People are ignorant of Video News Releases today I wonder how many people knew it back then.” After this incident the Center for Media & Democracy (CMD), a nonprofit public interest organization began to investigate how much of a role VNRs play in our news broadcasts. “After 2006 the (CMD) revealed that over seventy seven television stations aired Video News Releases without disclosing the source of the material. These stations collectively reaching more than half of the United States population used thirty six different Video News Releases, often airing the VNR without any editing at all,” ( Peabody 583). My personal opinion on all of this is that I think it is completely mental what Video News Releases are doing. It’s mind boggling to know that VNRs are being wildly used across the country like this. Half the country has been exposed to hidden propaganda media messages and was probably completely oblivious to it. “The problem is not the creation and use of VNRs; the problem is that television news remains the most popular and trusted source of information for the majority of Americans, and the public has the right to know when a particular news segment has been carefully crafted into a subtle sales pitch,” ( Peabody 586). Now that we know how much VNRs have spread across the country I’ll go back to my original question of whether this is ethical or not? To me it is not ethical at all and I am floored that the media continues to allow this to happen. I am happy the FCC is finally taking charge but there will be plenty of legal hurdles to get over. I don’t care if you produce or play VNRs but the public should be informed of what VNRs are and be able to identify them when on television. Its ridiculous how much government influence has on the public these days and as an American you begin to question how free of a country are we really? =

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= = Video News Release, The Dark Side of News