Fake News: Widespread and Undisclosed

[Guest guest]

At a Washington press event today, Free Press and our partners at the Center

for Media and Democracy (CMD) will release a groundbreaking report on the

extent to which corporate propaganda has infiltrated local TV newscasts across

the country.

 

All told, we caught 77 local stations slipping corporate-sponsored " video news

releases " — segments promoting commercial brands and products — into their

regular news programming. These advertisements, flogging everything from

vitamin supplements to porn-free search engines, were passed off to you, their

viewers, as legitimate news reports.

 

This deception is illegal, and it's a serious breach of the trust between

stations and their communities. Take action to stop fake news today:

 

_Tell the FCC to Crack Down on Fake Local News_

(http://action.freepress.net/campaign/fakenews/i7xknnk2pjnx3w6?)

 

By disguising advertisements as news, stations violate both the spirit and the

letter of their broadcasting licenses, which obligate them to be honest brokers

in service of the public interest.

 

The evidence suggests a strong tie between media consolidation and the tendency

to abuse the airwaves with deceptive, pre-packaged propaganda.

 

More than 80 percent of the stations snared in the inquiry are owned by large

conglomerates. A list of the worst offenders reads like a who's who of Big

Media, including stations owned by Sinclair, Fox Television and Clear Channel.

 

Free Press and CMD delivered extensive evidence of this local TV abuse to the

FCC. Our investigation — documenting less than 1 percent of fake news being

offered to newsrooms — exposed only the tip of the iceberg; it's likely that

fake news reports have been aired on hundreds more local newscasts.

 

We need your help as we continue to investigate the many facets of

propaganda in local news and to pressure Washington to guard our airwaves

against the spread of fake news.

 

Tell the FCC to Stop Fake News Today_

(http://action.freepress.net/campaign/fakenews/i7xknnk2pjnx3w6?)

 

Send a strong message to the FCC: Investigate this abuse by local news

stations, enforce rules against the airing of covert propaganda and penalize

all broadcasters that truck in fake news.

 

Act Now!

 

Timothy Karr

Campaign Director

Free Press

www.freepress.net

 

The full report — " Fake News: Widespread and Undisclosed " — is available at

http://www.prwatch.org/fakenews/execsummary

http://action.freepress.net/ct/Bpw1T1p1hcRp/

 

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