Free Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) have revealed that corporate propaganda continues to infiltrate local television news across the country.

Stations are slipping corporate-sponsored "video news releases" or VNRs — promotional segments designed to look like objective news reports — into their regular news programming. This deception is illegal under FCC rules.

A series of CMD investigations have caught 113 local stations airing VNRs without proper disclosure. Free Press and CMD have filed complaints with the FCC, urging the agency to take action against all stations that have violated sponsorship identification rules. So far, the FCC has fined only one cable channel for airing fake news.

Tell the FCC to Crack Down on Local News Deception
Read the Center for Media and Democracy's Report

The FCC Finally Cracks Down on Fake News

CMD's first report in April 2006 snared 77 stations airing VNRs without disclosure. A follow-up study in November 2006, "Still Not the News," caught an additional 46 stations red-handed.

Free Press and CMD have filed a series of complaints with the FCC about fake news, and tens of thousands of concerned citizens have contacted the agency. In response, the FCC has finally started to act against stations airing fake news.

In September 2007, the FCC announced fines for Comcast for airing five separate VNRs on its CN8 channel without identifying their sponsors. But the FCC still needs to do more to stop widespread VNR abuse. It should start by taking action against the more than 100 other stations caught broadcasting VNRs without disclosure.

Put Your Local Station on Notice

The use of VNRs without sponsorship identification is a breach of the trust between local stations and their communities.

By disguising advertisements as news, stations violate both the spirit and the letter of their broadcasting licenses, which obligate them to use the public airwaves to serve the public.

Free Press and CMD continue to pressure federal agencies to guard our airwaves against the spread of fake news.

But to keep the pressure on, we need your help. You can send a strong message to the FCC: Enforce and clarify existing rules and penalize all broadcasters that air fake news.

Tell the FCC to Crack Down on Local News Deception

The Big Media Profit Motive

More than 80 percent of the stations snared in CMD's research are owned by large conglomerates. A list of the worst offenders reads like a who's who of Big Media, including stations owned by:

• Tribune Company (9 stations)
• Sinclair Broadcast Group (8 stations)
• News Corp/Fox Television (8 stations)
• Viacom/CBS Corp (6 stations)

The evidence suggests a strong tie between media consolidation and the use of deceptive, pre-packaged propaganda.

There's a reason for this: VNRs are free. Reporting news that's meaningful to local communities isn't. By opting to air a VNR instead of sending a reporter into the field, station owners save a fortune.

Corporate PR firms offer local stations VNRs knowing there's a built-in incentive to use them. By dressing up fake news as local reporting, stations cut costs and increase profits.

Tell the FCC to Stop Fake Local News