Body Armor Recalled by Army

(AP)  WASHINGTON – Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered the recall of more than 16,000 sets of body armor following an audit that concluded the bullet-blocking plates in the vests failed testing and may not provide Soldiers with adequate protection.

The audit by the office of the Defense Department inspector general, not yet made public but obtained by The Associated Press, faults the Army for flawed testing procedures before awarding a contract for the armor.

In a letter dated Jan. 27 to Acting Inspector General Gordon Heddell, Geren said he did not agree that the plates failed the testing or that Soldiers were issued deficient gear. He said his opinion was backed by the Pentagon’s top testing director.

Despite his insistence that the armor was not deficient, Geren said he was recalling the sets as a precaution.

Geren also said he’s asked for a senior Pentagon official to resolve the disagreement between the Army and the inspector general’s office.

"To ensure there can be no question regarding the effectiveness of every Soldier’s body armor, I have today ordered that the plates at issue be identified and collected until such a time as the matter has been adjudicated by the deputy secretary of defense," he wrote.

Hundreds of thousands of body armor sets have been manufactured by nearly a dozen different companies over the past seven years. The vests are now standard gear for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The audit by the inspector general’s office was the second requested by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. She first asked the watchdog agency to look into the acquisition of the ballistic vests in 2006 after she read newspaper reports saying inadequate body armor was causing U.S. casualties.

The first audit was completed last year, but Slaughter said it wasn’t thorough enough.

Slaughter said Wednesday she’s satisfied with the latest report but remains concerned the Army has not changed its contracting methods to ensure the troops are getting the best gear.

"I’m not through," she said. "I really want to know which contracts are bad."

Heddell is scheduled to give Slaughter a briefing Thursday on the audit’s findings.

Auditors focused on a step called first article testing. These tests are to confirm the product meets the Army’s specifications. But the audit says the Army didn’t perform or score the tests consistently.

"Consequently, we believe that three of the eight ballistic insert designs that passed first article testing actually failed," the audit says.

The contract examined by the inspector general’s office is listed in the audit only as W91CRB-04-D-0040. An Aug, 20, 2004, an announcement on the Defense Department’s Web site states a contract under that designation was awarded to Armor Works of Chandler, Ariz.

The Army bought 51,334 sets of the protective inserts under the contract for just over $57 million, according to the inspector general.

A call to Armor Works was not immediately returned.

www.military.com/news/article/body-armor-recalled-by-army.html

Body Armor Recalled by Army

(AP)  WASHINGTON – Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered the recall of more than 16,000 sets of body armor following an audit that concluded the bullet-blocking plates in the vests failed testing and may not provide Soldiers with adequate protection.

The audit by the office of the Defense Department inspector general, not yet made public but obtained by The Associated Press, faults the Army for flawed testing procedures before awarding a contract for the armor.

In a letter dated Jan. 27 to Acting Inspector General Gordon Heddell, Geren said he did not agree that the plates failed the testing or that Soldiers were issued deficient gear. He said his opinion was backed by the Pentagon’s top testing director.

Despite his insistence that the armor was not deficient, Geren said he was recalling the sets as a precaution.

Geren also said he’s asked for a senior Pentagon official to resolve the disagreement between the Army and the inspector general’s office.

"To ensure there can be no question regarding the effectiveness of every Soldier’s body armor, I have today ordered that the plates at issue be identified and collected until such a time as the matter has been adjudicated by the deputy secretary of defense," he wrote.

Hundreds of thousands of body armor sets have been manufactured by nearly a dozen different companies over the past seven years. The vests are now standard gear for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The audit by the inspector general’s office was the second requested by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. She first asked the watchdog agency to look into the acquisition of the ballistic vests in 2006 after she read newspaper reports saying inadequate body armor was causing U.S. casualties.

The first audit was completed last year, but Slaughter said it wasn’t thorough enough.

Slaughter said Wednesday she’s satisfied with the latest report but remains concerned the Army has not changed its contracting methods to ensure the troops are getting the best gear.

"I’m not through," she said. "I really want to know which contracts are bad."

Heddell is scheduled to give Slaughter a briefing Thursday on the audit’s findings.

Auditors focused on a step called first article testing. These tests are to confirm the product meets the Army’s specifications. But the audit says the Army didn’t perform or score the tests consistently.

"Consequently, we believe that three of the eight ballistic insert designs that passed first article testing actually failed," the audit says.

The contract examined by the inspector general’s office is listed in the audit only as W91CRB-04-D-0040. An Aug, 20, 2004, an announcement on the Defense Department’s Web site states a contract under that designation was awarded to Armor Works of Chandler, Ariz.

The Army bought 51,334 sets of the protective inserts under the contract for just over $57 million, according to the inspector general.

A call to Armor Works was not immediately returned.

www.military.com/news/article/body-armor-recalled-by-army.html

Sen. Vitter: ACORN Getting ‘Political Payoff’

 

(NEWSMAX)  Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter doesn’t think much of the Democrats’ economic stimulus bill. And he tells Newsmax TV he especially doesn’t like its provisions allocating billions for so-called “community organizations” like the controversial Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Vitter lashed out at the proposal to give $4.2 billion to ACORN, which actively recruited voters for President Barack Obama and all Democrats during in the run up to the November election.

“That’s just a political payoff,” Vitter tells Newsmax’s Ashley Martella. ACORN’s inclusion in the massive $825 billion economic stimulus package comes “not in spite of their voter registration fraud activity, really because of it in my opinion in terms of support from some of the liberals in Congress,” he said.

“It’s exactly the sort of thing Democrats tried to pass last year in the housing plan that I also opposed,” Vitter says. “In that bill we were at least able to change the language so that money couldn’t go to ACORN and other similar groups. But in this bill they’re right back at it and they’re trying to get the money to ACORN again,” he explains.

ACORN is under investigation in several states for voter registration fraud, Vitter points out.

Since Republicans seem to be united in their opposition to the stimulus bill as written, Newsmax asked Vitter if there’s any chance of a GOP filibuster.

“I think this is absolutely going to be filibustered in the sense that President Obama and his allies will have to get 60 votes in the Senate,” he says. “Now, obviously Democrats are already very near that, but I think they’re absolutely going to have to get 60 votes in the Senate to be able to pass this.”

Is President Obama being forthright when he talks of inclusion and a bipartisan approach to the stimulus plan?

“The president talks about being very open, wanting to pass a bipartisan package. He says all the right things, but of course the proof is in the pudding, and so far the bill was written in the Capitol by the Democrats and the White House and all significant Republican amendments are so far being opposed and killed. So that’s not really the actions that would make up a bipartisan process,” he responded.

Newsmax also asked Vitter if Democrats are opposing his and other Republicans attempts to include much bigger tax cuts in the package.

“I think President Obama feels like he’s gone very far in terms of what he has in the bill already and he’s probably right that a bunch of Democrats oppose some of that.”

“My concern about the tax cuts is number one, it’s too little, too small a part of the package. Number two, some of the tax cuts aren’t tax cuts at all, they’re spending programs.”

“They’re tax cuts for people who don’t pay taxes; they’re sending checks to those folks, so that’s not a tax cut,” Vitter points out.

“And number three, they’re one-time rebates. Unfortunately history has proven, including under President Bush, that that just doesn’t work; you need a change of the rates and a more permanent tax cut to have a real solid impact to promote the economy.”

www.newsmax.com/insidecover/vitter_acorn_payoff/2009/01/29/176317.html

Sen. Vitter: ACORN Getting ‘Political Payoff’

 

(NEWSMAX)  Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter doesn’t think much of the Democrats’ economic stimulus bill. And he tells Newsmax TV he especially doesn’t like its provisions allocating billions for so-called “community organizations” like the controversial Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Vitter lashed out at the proposal to give $4.2 billion to ACORN, which actively recruited voters for President Barack Obama and all Democrats during in the run up to the November election.

“That’s just a political payoff,” Vitter tells Newsmax’s Ashley Martella. ACORN’s inclusion in the massive $825 billion economic stimulus package comes “not in spite of their voter registration fraud activity, really because of it in my opinion in terms of support from some of the liberals in Congress,” he said.

“It’s exactly the sort of thing Democrats tried to pass last year in the housing plan that I also opposed,” Vitter says. “In that bill we were at least able to change the language so that money couldn’t go to ACORN and other similar groups. But in this bill they’re right back at it and they’re trying to get the money to ACORN again,” he explains.

ACORN is under investigation in several states for voter registration fraud, Vitter points out.

Since Republicans seem to be united in their opposition to the stimulus bill as written, Newsmax asked Vitter if there’s any chance of a GOP filibuster.

“I think this is absolutely going to be filibustered in the sense that President Obama and his allies will have to get 60 votes in the Senate,” he says. “Now, obviously Democrats are already very near that, but I think they’re absolutely going to have to get 60 votes in the Senate to be able to pass this.”

Is President Obama being forthright when he talks of inclusion and a bipartisan approach to the stimulus plan?

“The president talks about being very open, wanting to pass a bipartisan package. He says all the right things, but of course the proof is in the pudding, and so far the bill was written in the Capitol by the Democrats and the White House and all significant Republican amendments are so far being opposed and killed. So that’s not really the actions that would make up a bipartisan process,” he responded.

Newsmax also asked Vitter if Democrats are opposing his and other Republicans attempts to include much bigger tax cuts in the package.

“I think President Obama feels like he’s gone very far in terms of what he has in the bill already and he’s probably right that a bunch of Democrats oppose some of that.”

“My concern about the tax cuts is number one, it’s too little, too small a part of the package. Number two, some of the tax cuts aren’t tax cuts at all, they’re spending programs.”

“They’re tax cuts for people who don’t pay taxes; they’re sending checks to those folks, so that’s not a tax cut,” Vitter points out.

“And number three, they’re one-time rebates. Unfortunately history has proven, including under President Bush, that that just doesn’t work; you need a change of the rates and a more permanent tax cut to have a real solid impact to promote the economy.”

www.newsmax.com/insidecover/vitter_acorn_payoff/2009/01/29/176317.html

Studies Report Mercury Levels In Popular Food Sweetener

Studies Report Mercury Levels In Popular Food Sweetener

ShareThis

January 28, 2009 9:04 a.m. EST

David Goodhue – AHN Reporter

Miami, FL

High fructose corn syrup has replaced sugar in many processed foods, including beverages, breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of high fructose corn syrup. Consumption by teenagers and other high consumers can be up to 80 percent above average levels, according to the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy — the group responsible for the second report.

"Mercury is toxic in all its forms," the IATP’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author in both studies, said in a statement. "Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the FDA to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply."

The original FDA study was conducted in 2005, and Wallinga is accusing the agency of not informing the public of the mercury findings.

In making high fructose corn syrup, caustic soda is used, among other things, to separate corn starch from the corn kernel, Wallinga said. For decades, the sweetener has been made using mercury-grade caustic soda produced in industrial chlorine plants, according to Wallinga. The use of mercury cells to produce caustic soda can contaminate caustic soda, and ultimately high fructose corn syrup, with mercury.

"The bad news is that nobody knows whether or not their soda or snack food contains HFCS made from ingredients like caustic soda contaminated with mercury," Wallinga said. "The good news is that mercury-free [high fructose corn syrup] ingredients exist. Food companies just need a good push to only use those ingredients."

Army to report record number of suicides

Statistics obtained by CNN show the Army will report 128 confirmed suicides last year and another 15 suspected suicides in cases under investigation among active-duty soldiers and activated National Guard and reserves.

The confirmed rate of suicides for the Army was 20.2 per 100,000. Army officials were reviewing the suspected suicides Wednesday. If any of them are confirmed, the rate would rise.

Last month, Army officials said the nation’s suicide rate was 19.5 people per 100,000, a 2005 figure considered the most recent.

Military officials have long said it is difficult to compare the military suicide rate with that of the private sector because of demographic differences and overall human stress factors. Another factor is that military suicides tend to be committed by young men with access to weapons.

For 2007, the Army reported 115 confirmed suicides, then the highest level since 1980, when it began tracking suicides.

The Army is expected to announce a new effort to study the problem and determine why its suicide-prevention programs appear not to be working, and the extent to which post-combat stress may be a contributing factor.

Many of the suicides occur after troops return home. The death of Army Spc. Tim Bowman was such a case. The 23-year-old killed himself in 2005 after returning from Iraq.

"As my family was preparing for a 2005 Thanksgiving meal, our son Timothy was lying on the floor, slowly bleeding to death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," said his father, Mike Bowman, in testimony to a House Veterans’ Affairs committee hearing in December 2007. "His war was now over."

The Army has long cited personal stress — including financial, relationship and substance-abuse problems — as the major reason for suicides, but it is also studying the extent to which deployments to a war zone may play a role.

Army to report record number of suicides

Statistics obtained by CNN show the Army will report 128 confirmed suicides last year and another 15 suspected suicides in cases under investigation among active-duty soldiers and activated National Guard and reserves.

The confirmed rate of suicides for the Army was 20.2 per 100,000. Army officials were reviewing the suspected suicides Wednesday. If any of them are confirmed, the rate would rise.

Last month, Army officials said the nation’s suicide rate was 19.5 people per 100,000, a 2005 figure considered the most recent.

Military officials have long said it is difficult to compare the military suicide rate with that of the private sector because of demographic differences and overall human stress factors. Another factor is that military suicides tend to be committed by young men with access to weapons.

For 2007, the Army reported 115 confirmed suicides, then the highest level since 1980, when it began tracking suicides.

The Army is expected to announce a new effort to study the problem and determine why its suicide-prevention programs appear not to be working, and the extent to which post-combat stress may be a contributing factor.

Many of the suicides occur after troops return home. The death of Army Spc. Tim Bowman was such a case. The 23-year-old killed himself in 2005 after returning from Iraq.

"As my family was preparing for a 2005 Thanksgiving meal, our son Timothy was lying on the floor, slowly bleeding to death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," said his father, Mike Bowman, in testimony to a House Veterans’ Affairs committee hearing in December 2007. "His war was now over."

The Army has long cited personal stress — including financial, relationship and substance-abuse problems — as the major reason for suicides, but it is also studying the extent to which deployments to a war zone may play a role.

Fake TV News Widespread and Undisclosed!!!

(Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, Center for Media and Democracy)  Over a ten-month period, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) documented television newsrooms’ use of 36 video news releases (VNRs)—a small

sample of the thousands produced each year. CMD identified 77 television stations, from those in the largest to the smallest markets, that aired

these VNRs or related satellite media tours (SMTs) in 98 separate instances, without disclosure to viewers. Collectively, these 77 stations reach

more than half of the U.S. population. The VNRs and SMTs whose broadcast CMD documented were produced by three broadcast PR firms for 49 different

clients, including General Motors, Intel, Pfizer and Capital One. In each case, these 77 television stations actively disguised the sponsored

content to make it appear to be their own reporting. In almost all cases, stations failed to balance the clients’ messages with independently-

gathered footage or basic journalistic research. More than one-third of the time, stations aired the pre-packaged VNR in its entirety.

KOKH-25 in Oklahoma City, OK, a FOX station owned by Sinclair, aired six of the VNRs tracked by CMD, making it this report’s top repeat offender.

Consistently, KOKH-25 failed to provide any disclosure to news audiences. The station also aired five of the six VNRs in their entirety, and kept

the publicist’s original narration each time.
In three instances, TV stations not only aired entire VNRs without disclosure, but had local anchors and reporters read directly from the script

prepared by the broadcast PR firm. KTVI-2 in St. Louis, MO, had their anchor introduce, and their reporter re-voice, a VNR produced for Masterfoods

and 1-800 Flowers, following the script nearly verbatim. WBFS-33 in Miami, FL, did the same with a VNR produced for the "professional services firm"

Towers Perrin. And Ohio News Network did likewise with a VNR produced for Siemens.
WSJV-28 in South Bend, IN, introduced a VNR produced for General Motors as being from "FOX’s Andrew Schmertz," implying that Schmertz was a reporter

for the local station or the FOX network. In reality, he is a publicist at the largest U.S. broadcast PR firm, Medialink Worldwide. Another

Medialink publicist, Kate Brookes, was presented as an on-air reporter by four TV stations airing a VNR produced for Siemens.
Two stations whose previous use of government VNRs was documented by the New York Times, WCIA-3 in Champaign, IL, and WHBQ-13 in Memphis, TN, also

aired VNRs tracked by CMD. The March 2005 Times article reported that WHBQ’s vice president for news "could not explain how his station came to

broadcast" a State Department VNR, while WCIA’s news director said that Agriculture Department VNRs "meet our journalistic standards."

 

Summary
Although the number of media formats and outlets has exploded in recent years, television remains the dominant news source in the United States.

More than three-quarters of U.S. adults rely on local TV news, and more than 70 percent turn to network TV or cable news on a daily or near-daily

basis, according to a January 2006 Harris Poll. The quality and integrity of television reporting thus significantly impacts the public’s ability to

evaluate everything from consumer products to medical services to government policies.

To reach this audience—and to add a veneer of credibility to clients’ messages—the public relations industry uses video news releases (VNRs). VNRs

are pre-packaged "news" segments and additional footage created by broadcast PR firms, or by publicists within corporations or government agencies.

VNRs are designed to be seamlessly integrated into newscasts, and are freely provided to TV stations. Although the accompanying information sent to

TV stations identifies the clients behind the VNRs, nothing in the material for broadcast does. Without strong disclosure requirements and the

attention and action of TV station personnel, viewers cannot know when the news segment they’re watching was bought and paid for by the very

subjects of that "report."

 

In recent years, the U.S. Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, journalism professors, reporters and members of the general public have

expressed concern about VNRs. In response, public relations executives and broadcaster groups have vigorously defended the status quo, claiming

there is no problem with current practices. In June 2005, the president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), Barbara Cochran,

told a reporter that VNRs were "kind of like the Loch Ness Monster. Everyone talks about it, but not many people have actually seen it."

To inform this debate, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) conducted a ten-month study of selected VNRs and their use by television stations,

tracking 36 VNRs issued by three broadcast PR firms. Key findings include:

VNR use is widespread. CMD found 69 TV stations that aired at least one VNR from June 2005 to March 2006—a significant number, given that CMD was

only able to track a small percentage of the VNRs streaming into newsrooms during that time. Collectively, these 69 stations broadcast to 52.7

percent of the U.S. population, according to Nielsen Media figures. Syndicated and network-distributed segments sometimes included VNRs, further

broadening their reach.
VNRs are aired in TV markets of all sizes. TV stations often use VNRs to limit the costs associated with producing, filming and editing their own

reports. However, VNR usage is not limited to small-town stations with shoestring budgets. Nearly two-thirds of the VNRs that CMD tracked were aired

by stations in a Top 50 Nielsen market area, such as Detroit, Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. Thirteen VNRs were broadcast in the ten largest markets,

including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.
TV stations don’t disclose VNRs to viewers. Of the 87 VNR broadcasts that CMD documented, not once did the TV station disclose the client(s) behind

the VNR to the news audience. Only one station, WHSV-3 in Harrisonburg, VA, provided partial disclosure, identifying the broadcast PR firm that

created the VNR, but not the client, DaimlerChrysler. WHSV-3 aired soundbites from a Chrysler representative and directed viewers to websites

associated with Chrysler, without disclosing the company’s role in the "report."
TV stations disguise VNRs as their own reporting. In every VNR broadcast that CMD documented, the TV station altered the VNR’s appearance. Newsrooms

added station-branded graphics and overlays, to make VNRs indistinguishable from reports that genuinely originated from their station. A station

reporter or anchor re-voiced the VNR in more than 60 percent of the VNR broadcasts, sometimes repeating the publicist’s original narration word-for

-word.
TV stations don’t supplement VNR footage or verify VNR claims. While TV stations often edit VNRs for length, in only seven of the 87 VNR broadcasts

documented by CMD did stations add any independently-gathered footage or information to the segment. In all other cases, the entire aired "report"

was derived from a VNR and its accompanying script. In 31 of the 87 VNR broadcasts, the entire aired "report" was the entire pre-packaged VNR. Three

stations (WCPO-9 in Cincinnati, OH; WSYR-9 in Syracuse, NY; and WYTV-33 in Youngstown, OH) removed safety warnings from a VNR touting a newly-

approved prescription skin cream. WSYR-9 also aired a VNR heralding a "major health breakthrough" for arthritis sufferers—a supplement that a

widely-reported government study had found to be little better than a placebo.
The vast majority of VNRs are produced for corporate clients. Of the hundreds of VNRs that CMD reviewed for potential tracking, only a few came from

government agencies or non-profit organizations. Corporations have consistently been the dominant purveyors of VNRs, though the increased scrutiny

of government-funded VNRs in recent years may have decreased their use by TV newsrooms. Of the VNRs that CMD tracked, 47 of the 49 clients behind

them were corporations that stood to benefit financially from the favorable "news" coverage.
Satellite media tours may accompany VNRs. Broadcast PR firms sometimes produce both VNRs and satellite media tours (SMTs) for clients. SMTs are

actual interviews with TV stations, but their focus and scope are determined by the clients. In effect, SMTs are live recitations of VNR scripts.

CMD identified 10 different TV stations that aired SMTs for 17 different clients with related VNRs. In only one instance was there partial

disclosure to viewers. An anchor at WLTX-19 in Columbia, SC, said after the segment, "This interview … was provided by vendors at the consumer

trade show," but did not name the four corporate clients behind the SMT.
In sum, television newscasts—the most popular news source in the United States—frequently air VNRs without disclosure to viewers, without conducting

their own reporting, and even without fact checking the claims made in the VNRs. VNRs are overwhelmingly produced for corporations, as part of

larger public relations campaigns to sell products, burnish their image, or promote policies or actions beneficial to the corporation.

Note: This report is also available in PDF format, at www.prwatch.org/pdfs/FakeTVNews_Apr2006Rpt.pdf

Fake TV News: Video News Releases

From June 2005 to March 2006, the Center for Media and Democracy documented television newsrooms’ use of selected video news releases (VNRs) and

satellite media tour (SMT) "interviews." While these 36 examples represent less than one percent of VNRs offered to newsrooms each year, this report

provides the most comprehensive survey of fake TV news to date.

Watch the videos at: www.prwatch.org/fakenews/findings/vnrs

 

Fake News Stations

The Center for Media and Democracy has documented the following television stations airing fake news: video news releases (VNRs) and / or satellite

media tours (SMTs).

The entire list of tv stations can be found at: www.prwatch.org/fakenews_station

Fake TV News Widespread and Undisclosed!!!

(Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, Center for Media and Democracy)  Over a ten-month period, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) documented television newsrooms’ use of 36 video news releases (VNRs)—a small

sample of the thousands produced each year. CMD identified 77 television stations, from those in the largest to the smallest markets, that aired

these VNRs or related satellite media tours (SMTs) in 98 separate instances, without disclosure to viewers. Collectively, these 77 stations reach

more than half of the U.S. population. The VNRs and SMTs whose broadcast CMD documented were produced by three broadcast PR firms for 49 different

clients, including General Motors, Intel, Pfizer and Capital One. In each case, these 77 television stations actively disguised the sponsored

content to make it appear to be their own reporting. In almost all cases, stations failed to balance the clients’ messages with independently-

gathered footage or basic journalistic research. More than one-third of the time, stations aired the pre-packaged VNR in its entirety.

KOKH-25 in Oklahoma City, OK, a FOX station owned by Sinclair, aired six of the VNRs tracked by CMD, making it this report’s top repeat offender.

Consistently, KOKH-25 failed to provide any disclosure to news audiences. The station also aired five of the six VNRs in their entirety, and kept

the publicist’s original narration each time.
In three instances, TV stations not only aired entire VNRs without disclosure, but had local anchors and reporters read directly from the script

prepared by the broadcast PR firm. KTVI-2 in St. Louis, MO, had their anchor introduce, and their reporter re-voice, a VNR produced for Masterfoods

and 1-800 Flowers, following the script nearly verbatim. WBFS-33 in Miami, FL, did the same with a VNR produced for the "professional services firm"

Towers Perrin. And Ohio News Network did likewise with a VNR produced for Siemens.
WSJV-28 in South Bend, IN, introduced a VNR produced for General Motors as being from "FOX’s Andrew Schmertz," implying that Schmertz was a reporter

for the local station or the FOX network. In reality, he is a publicist at the largest U.S. broadcast PR firm, Medialink Worldwide. Another

Medialink publicist, Kate Brookes, was presented as an on-air reporter by four TV stations airing a VNR produced for Siemens.
Two stations whose previous use of government VNRs was documented by the New York Times, WCIA-3 in Champaign, IL, and WHBQ-13 in Memphis, TN, also

aired VNRs tracked by CMD. The March 2005 Times article reported that WHBQ’s vice president for news "could not explain how his station came to

broadcast" a State Department VNR, while WCIA’s news director said that Agriculture Department VNRs "meet our journalistic standards."

 

Summary
Although the number of media formats and outlets has exploded in recent years, television remains the dominant news source in the United States.

More than three-quarters of U.S. adults rely on local TV news, and more than 70 percent turn to network TV or cable news on a daily or near-daily

basis, according to a January 2006 Harris Poll. The quality and integrity of television reporting thus significantly impacts the public’s ability to

evaluate everything from consumer products to medical services to government policies.

To reach this audience—and to add a veneer of credibility to clients’ messages—the public relations industry uses video news releases (VNRs). VNRs

are pre-packaged "news" segments and additional footage created by broadcast PR firms, or by publicists within corporations or government agencies.

VNRs are designed to be seamlessly integrated into newscasts, and are freely provided to TV stations. Although the accompanying information sent to

TV stations identifies the clients behind the VNRs, nothing in the material for broadcast does. Without strong disclosure requirements and the

attention and action of TV station personnel, viewers cannot know when the news segment they’re watching was bought and paid for by the very

subjects of that "report."

 

In recent years, the U.S. Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, journalism professors, reporters and members of the general public have

expressed concern about VNRs. In response, public relations executives and broadcaster groups have vigorously defended the status quo, claiming

there is no problem with current practices. In June 2005, the president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), Barbara Cochran,

told a reporter that VNRs were "kind of like the Loch Ness Monster. Everyone talks about it, but not many people have actually seen it."

To inform this debate, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) conducted a ten-month study of selected VNRs and their use by television stations,

tracking 36 VNRs issued by three broadcast PR firms. Key findings include:

VNR use is widespread. CMD found 69 TV stations that aired at least one VNR from June 2005 to March 2006—a significant number, given that CMD was

only able to track a small percentage of the VNRs streaming into newsrooms during that time. Collectively, these 69 stations broadcast to 52.7

percent of the U.S. population, according to Nielsen Media figures. Syndicated and network-distributed segments sometimes included VNRs, further

broadening their reach.
VNRs are aired in TV markets of all sizes. TV stations often use VNRs to limit the costs associated with producing, filming and editing their own

reports. However, VNR usage is not limited to small-town stations with shoestring budgets. Nearly two-thirds of the VNRs that CMD tracked were aired

by stations in a Top 50 Nielsen market area, such as Detroit, Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. Thirteen VNRs were broadcast in the ten largest markets,

including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.
TV stations don’t disclose VNRs to viewers. Of the 87 VNR broadcasts that CMD documented, not once did the TV station disclose the client(s) behind

the VNR to the news audience. Only one station, WHSV-3 in Harrisonburg, VA, provided partial disclosure, identifying the broadcast PR firm that

created the VNR, but not the client, DaimlerChrysler. WHSV-3 aired soundbites from a Chrysler representative and directed viewers to websites

associated with Chrysler, without disclosing the company’s role in the "report."
TV stations disguise VNRs as their own reporting. In every VNR broadcast that CMD documented, the TV station altered the VNR’s appearance. Newsrooms

added station-branded graphics and overlays, to make VNRs indistinguishable from reports that genuinely originated from their station. A station

reporter or anchor re-voiced the VNR in more than 60 percent of the VNR broadcasts, sometimes repeating the publicist’s original narration word-for

-word.
TV stations don’t supplement VNR footage or verify VNR claims. While TV stations often edit VNRs for length, in only seven of the 87 VNR broadcasts

documented by CMD did stations add any independently-gathered footage or information to the segment. In all other cases, the entire aired "report"

was derived from a VNR and its accompanying script. In 31 of the 87 VNR broadcasts, the entire aired "report" was the entire pre-packaged VNR. Three

stations (WCPO-9 in Cincinnati, OH; WSYR-9 in Syracuse, NY; and WYTV-33 in Youngstown, OH) removed safety warnings from a VNR touting a newly-

approved prescription skin cream. WSYR-9 also aired a VNR heralding a "major health breakthrough" for arthritis sufferers—a supplement that a

widely-reported government study had found to be little better than a placebo.
The vast majority of VNRs are produced for corporate clients. Of the hundreds of VNRs that CMD reviewed for potential tracking, only a few came from

government agencies or non-profit organizations. Corporations have consistently been the dominant purveyors of VNRs, though the increased scrutiny

of government-funded VNRs in recent years may have decreased their use by TV newsrooms. Of the VNRs that CMD tracked, 47 of the 49 clients behind

them were corporations that stood to benefit financially from the favorable "news" coverage.
Satellite media tours may accompany VNRs. Broadcast PR firms sometimes produce both VNRs and satellite media tours (SMTs) for clients. SMTs are

actual interviews with TV stations, but their focus and scope are determined by the clients. In effect, SMTs are live recitations of VNR scripts.

CMD identified 10 different TV stations that aired SMTs for 17 different clients with related VNRs. In only one instance was there partial

disclosure to viewers. An anchor at WLTX-19 in Columbia, SC, said after the segment, "This interview … was provided by vendors at the consumer

trade show," but did not name the four corporate clients behind the SMT.
In sum, television newscasts—the most popular news source in the United States—frequently air VNRs without disclosure to viewers, without conducting

their own reporting, and even without fact checking the claims made in the VNRs. VNRs are overwhelmingly produced for corporations, as part of

larger public relations campaigns to sell products, burnish their image, or promote policies or actions beneficial to the corporation.

Note: This report is also available in PDF format, at www.prwatch.org/pdfs/FakeTVNews_Apr2006Rpt.pdf

Fake TV News: Video News Releases

From June 2005 to March 2006, the Center for Media and Democracy documented television newsrooms’ use of selected video news releases (VNRs) and

satellite media tour (SMT) "interviews." While these 36 examples represent less than one percent of VNRs offered to newsrooms each year, this report

provides the most comprehensive survey of fake TV news to date.

Watch the videos at: www.prwatch.org/fakenews/findings/vnrs

 

Fake News Stations

The Center for Media and Democracy has documented the following television stations airing fake news: video news releases (VNRs) and / or satellite

media tours (SMTs).

The entire list of tv stations can be found at: www.prwatch.org/fakenews_station

Former CIA station chief target of rape inquiry

Former CIA station chief target of rape inquiry

The women told investigators that they think date-rape drugs were used in the assaults, which are said to have occurred at the officer’s official residence, according to the source.

The allegations were made in the fall, when the unidentified officer was still serving as station chief. In October, soon after the allegations were made, the man returned to the United States for a previously scheduled trip and was ordered not to return to his post, the source said.

A senior U.S. official confirmed that the case is under investigation but refused to comment on the details.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood issued a brief statement in response to a CNN inquiry, saying that "the individual in question has returned to Washington and the U.S. government is looking into the matter," and referring reporters to the Justice Department.

The women, who are Algerian citizens, brought their allegations to a U.S. government official, and federal authorities then launched an investigation.

A search of the station chief’s residence in Algeria was approved by a U.S. District Court judge after a request from the Justice Department. The search found pills believed to be of a type commonly used in date rape, the source said.

In that search, authorities also found about a dozen tapes that are thought to show the officer engaged in sexual acts, the source said, including some in which women are believed to be in a semiconscious state. CNN’s source had not seen the tapes but had been briefed on their content. Some of the tapes include date stamps indicating that the recordings happened when he would have been serving in Cairo, Egypt, before his tenure in Algeria.

The investigation includes his time in both posts as well as other locations where he traveled.

The identity of the officer could not be learned, and CNN was unable to reach a representative of the officer. It is against the law to reveal identities of covert officers.

When the allegations surfaced in the fall, they were viewed as "tremendously explosive, no doubt about that," the source said, especially because Algeria is a Muslim country.

The Justice Department and the CIA would not comment on the allegations or any investigation.

"I can assure you that the agency would take seriously and follow up any allegations of impropriety," CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said.

The officer has not been charged, the source said. The source would not speak for attribution because the investigation is ongoing and the source was not authorized to speak publicly.

One federal law enforcement source said that no developments or activities relating to the case are "imminent."

A station chief heads the CIA’s office in a foreign country, establishing a relationship with its host intelligence service and overseeing agency activities in the country.

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