FCC probing complaint on video news releases Reuters Thu May 25, 2006 4:45 PM ET
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=televisionNews&storyID=2006-05-25T204509Z_01_N25355690_RTRIDST_0_TELEVISION-MEDIA-FCC-NEWSRELEASES-DC.XML WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has begun looking into whether some television stations violated rules requiring them to identify the source of video news releases they use, an agency official said on Thursday. The FCC is looking into allegations that sponsorship identification rules were not followed and will take action if there were any violations, an FCC official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official declined to elaborate. The move follows a complaint filed last month by two consumer advocacy groups that found 77 television stations over a 10-month period ending in March failed to clearly tell viewers when they were using video news releases. The agency typically reviews all complaints filed and stations found to be in violation of regulations can be subject to fines. The FCC a year ago reminded television broadcasters and cable operators to properly identify the source of video news releases after incidents in which prepackaged news from government agencies was used by stations without proper sponsorship identification. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, had called on the agency to investigate the complaint filed by the consumer groups Free Press and the Center for Media Democracy. The Radio-Television News Directors Association said last month in response to the report that it was sending again to its members guidelines that state the origin should be clearly identified if material in video news releases is used. The association counseled against government regulation, but urged station managers to beef up their policies on disclosing the use of outside material. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
