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A few years back, the Government Accounting Office decided -- according to the New York Times -- that the “Bush administration violated federal law by producing and disseminating television news segments” – deeming them “propaganda.”

These news segments were pre-taped Video News Releases (VNRs) that aped the look and feel of a news story – complete with the quote-unquote correspondent closing out by saying “I’m Karen Ryan, reporting” – discussing the positive effects of Medicare policy.

The tapes were then sent to local news stations nationwide where they all-too-frequently ran without the disclosure that they were government produced. The practice was thoroughly dissected by the famously prolix Jay Rosen. (Where he cites the Cleveland Plain Dealer, in all its brilliant ‘plain’-ness editorializing “Karen Ryan, you’re a phony.”)

Lesson learned? You’d think.

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