DEADLINE today Jan 17 - to comment on FCC rules regarding TV pay-to-play
Jacob
To post your own comment to the FCC, click on the “submit a filing” link on the side or click here. To read the FCC’s proposal in full, go here.
To read the FCC comments offered so far, go here and enter proceeding number 00-168.
Learn more about Pay for Play (news stories that are actually advertisements) from CJR here: http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/this_news_story_is_brought_to.php
Steven Waldman is calling TV journalists to action before a Jan 17 deadline — seeking comments re: FCC policy on ad transparency – political and pay-for-play. These are huge issues for local stations. Waldman is lead author of last summer’s major FCC media report and was part of the JA conversation on the value of local TV news. Here are his recent writings on the FCC proposals to put political ad info online and reign in pay-for-play. His plea: comment! As of Jan 1, Waldman says, “not a single journalist or journalism professional group has weighed in.”
From Waldman:
The association of health journalists just weighed in with a powerful comment supporting the FCC requirement that TV stations disclose online when the’ve done marketing segments that look like news bits:
“As the largest organization of health care journalists, we have long been troubled by “pay for play” arrangements and other practices in which marketing masquerades as news. Such practices are especially pernicious when applied to matters of health and health care – as they often are — because people make decisions affecting their well-being based on such reports. The result is harm to individuals who make the wrong choice based on biased information and increased costs in the health care system that we all pay for. Such deceptiveness also threatens the credibility of all journalism. A bright line must be drawn between those who say what they’re paid to say and those who make an independent effort to find out what’s true.”
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7021753323
From the CJR story: "One study found that in a ten-month period, seventy-seven stations ran ninety-eight instances of thirty-six video news releases without disclosing that they were press releases"
Sorry bout the short notice, just heard about this, but I think it's important journalists weigh in as this is a huge integrity issue.
~Jacob