WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- The sources of government or corporate news releases must now be shown by U.S. TV broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission has ruled.
"We have a responsibility to tell broadcasters they have to let people know where the material is coming from," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat. "Viewers are hoodwinked into thinking it's really a news story when it might be from the government or a big corporation trying to influence the way they think."
Along those lines, the Washington Post said Sen. Frank Lautenberg. D-N.J., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., plan to introduce an amendment to a junk fax bill that would require government agencies to tell viewers that a clip was produced and paid for by the U.S. government.
Last year, a video news release on Medicare and Medicaid by the Department of Health and Human Services was deemed propaganda by the Government Accountability Office.
