Financial Infomercials Cleverly Disguised As News

(MoneyWatch)  I think the financial media is often the investor's third biggest enemy, just behind Wall Street and investors themselves. But sometimes we may find ourselves watching what appears to be a news segment that is actually a cleverly disguised infomercial. Here's the story of how I missed out on my few minutes of fame, and what it means to you, the investor.

A few weeks ago, I got a call letting me know I was in the running to be a guest on the national TV show Today in America, with the Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw. I regarded this as either a ripe opportunity to be on national TV, or to come away with a blog for CBS MoneyWatch. Knowing my industry as I do, along with the fact that I had never heard of this show, I figured the latter outcome was more likely.

My interview with the Producer
So I set up the phone interview with one of the show's producers, Bill Bunn. He talked about "trust and concern" which left me with quite a bit to contribute to the conversation. We also talked about lack of transparency, financial incentives of the industry, not making Wall Street rich, yada, yada, yada.

During the interview, I asked Bunn how he found me. He responded that I had been in the news. I questioned whether it was from having my picture in The Wall Street Journal a week earlier, or from quotes in other magazines and newspapers. He wasn't actually sure.

Well no matter, I had apparently cleared the first hurdle. Bunn told me I was ready to talk to the show's executive producer, though he wouldn't give me a name. Before going further, however, Bunn wanted to make me aware of a small "scheduling fee" of $19,800. For said fee, the show would run at least 20 times including one national TV airing on FOX Business!
My interview suddenly deteriorates
I didn't want to tip my hand just yet, so I asked Bunn whether the segment would mention that I had paid a bundle to be the expert on the show. He replied that no such disclosure would be made. I then asked something he clearly didn't like much. Since our discussion had centered around "trust" and "disclosure," why wouldn't we want to inform the viewers that this was a paid slot?

Bunn answered that I had an interesting point, though I did notice that the tone of our discussion went from friendly to very defensive. I told him that I wasn't interested in going further but did think it would make a good blog post. I again asked why the show doesn't disclose that the experts on the show paid to be on the show and received no answer. Bunn declined to give me his telephone number or email address.

I did follow up with Bunn's assistant and received the response below:

I checked with our VP of Media, and he explained that since the show is clearly a paid media show, the standard paid programming disclaimer of "This is a paid advertisement," may apply, but within the context of the segment itself from an educational standpoint within the scripting of the segment, which is collaborative, signed off/approved by our featured guests, it need not be mentioned further. This distinction needs to be made as it is clearly not a news program, obviously.
Not quite following the logic, I asked for clarification but received none. I saw no such disclosures on the videos on the show's web site.

FOX Means Business
I contacted Ray Hennessey, Director of Business News at Fox. He was unaware of the show, Today in America, and noted Fox did not produce it. He looked into the matter and stated that any paid programming is disclosed as such. Mr. Hennessey wasn't aware of whether the show had purchased time but, if they had, it would likely run overnight or on the weekend.

Lessons learned
The next time you are watching television or, especially, listening to the local financial guru on the radio, ask yourself whether this is a news show or an infomercial not labeled as such. If this guru isn't telling you he paid for the spot, what makes you think he would be any more truthful or transparent if you hired him as your advisor?

Never forget that my financial industry has countless ways of separating you from your money. Always keep an eye out for hidden motives and deceptive practices.

Terry, you were a great quarterback and are one heck of an entrepreneur. However, this is one infomercial I won't be buying.

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