Press Release
Free Press and Center for Media and Democracy hail passage of Truth in Broadcasting Act
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- Free Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) today applauded the Senate Commerce Committee's unanimous passage of the Truth in Broadcasting Act as a first step toward ensuring the public's right to know about the origins of audio and video news releases. While the two groups urged the full Congress to pass the bill, they cautioned that the legislation only covers a small fraction of "fake news."
The Truth in Broadcasting Act (S. 967), introduced by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.), would require all pre-packaged, government-produced audio and video news releases, or VNRs, to include a clear disclaimer that the government was their original source. The legislation next moves before the full Senate. No companion bill has yet been introduced in the House.
"In response to hundreds of thousands of concerned citizens, a bipartisan group of elected officials has moved us a step closer to ending this form of covert propaganda once and for all," said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press. "The full Senate and House should move quickly to pass this bill and permanently shutter the government's fake news factory."
Throughout the year, Free Press and CMD have mobilized citizens to put a stop to government propaganda. In April, the groups mobilized more than 45,000 concerned citizens to urge the FCC to launch an investigation into the widespread use of government-sponsored VNRs. In response, the agency issued a public notice calling on all broadcasters and cable outlets to disclose the origin of VNRs used on their programs.
Most recently, Free Press and CMD delivered tens of thousands of letters to the Justice Department seeking a full investigation of "covert propaganda" produced by Armstrong Williams and others named in a recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office. The groups will continue pushing for full disclosure and conspicuous labeling of all pre-packaged reports, regardless of whether they were produced by government agencies or corporations.
"The Commerce Committee's passage of the Truth in Broadcasting Act is an important but small step forward in the fight against fake news," said Diane Farsetta, senior researcher at CMD. "With this vote, the committee supported the American public's right to know when news programs air a government-produced video or audio 'report.' However, the vast majority of fake news comes from private sources -- pharmaceutical companies, car companies, other product manufacturers. The public should also have the same right to know when these sources are trying to influence them through supposedly independent news broadcasts."
For more information, visit www.freepress.net/propaganda or www.prwatch.org.
The Truth in Broadcasting Act (S. 967), introduced by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.), would require all pre-packaged, government-produced audio and video news releases, or VNRs, to include a clear disclaimer that the government was their original source. The legislation next moves before the full Senate. No companion bill has yet been introduced in the House.
"In response to hundreds of thousands of concerned citizens, a bipartisan group of elected officials has moved us a step closer to ending this form of covert propaganda once and for all," said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press. "The full Senate and House should move quickly to pass this bill and permanently shutter the government's fake news factory."
Throughout the year, Free Press and CMD have mobilized citizens to put a stop to government propaganda. In April, the groups mobilized more than 45,000 concerned citizens to urge the FCC to launch an investigation into the widespread use of government-sponsored VNRs. In response, the agency issued a public notice calling on all broadcasters and cable outlets to disclose the origin of VNRs used on their programs.
Most recently, Free Press and CMD delivered tens of thousands of letters to the Justice Department seeking a full investigation of "covert propaganda" produced by Armstrong Williams and others named in a recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office. The groups will continue pushing for full disclosure and conspicuous labeling of all pre-packaged reports, regardless of whether they were produced by government agencies or corporations.
"The Commerce Committee's passage of the Truth in Broadcasting Act is an important but small step forward in the fight against fake news," said Diane Farsetta, senior researcher at CMD. "With this vote, the committee supported the American public's right to know when news programs air a government-produced video or audio 'report.' However, the vast majority of fake news comes from private sources -- pharmaceutical companies, car companies, other product manufacturers. The public should also have the same right to know when these sources are trying to influence them through supposedly independent news broadcasts."
For more information, visit www.freepress.net/propaganda or www.prwatch.org.
