ONE PERSON'S PROPAGANDA IS ANOTHER'S NEWS

March 24, 2004

The General Accounting Office is investigating whether the

Department of Health and Human Services' video news releases

touting the new Medicare law constitute illegal " covert

propaganda. " Some PR pros think it's much ado about nothing: " VNRs

have been around since the dawn of TV, " said the CEO of Medialink.

But the director of the National Association of Government

Communicators warned that the VNR " Hollywood approach " could

undermine public trust. Karen Ryan, the " reporter " in the Medicare

spots, told the Columbia Journalism Review's Campaign Desk she

feels like " political roadkill. " Ryan, a former journalist, heads

her own PR firm. Karen Ryan Group Communications was hired by Home

Front Communications, which was hired by Ketchum Advertising, which

was hired by HHS to do the VNRs. According to Campaign Desk

reporter Zachary Roth, " The real question, however, is: How did so

many television stations end up running the segment? While taking

ultimate responsibility for their error, many news directors

pointed the finger at two other targets: the Bush administration

and CNN, " whose " CNN Newsource " service is a " sort of wire service

for TV, " but gets paid for mixing VNRs with genuine news stories.

" It mixes in the client's material with legitimate, CNN-produced

news stories to be used by local stations - acting as a paid 'news

launderer' on behalf of the VNR producers, " Roth writes.

SOURCE: PR Week, March 22, 2004

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