Calling Out "Propaganda"

In a little noticed development Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee approved the "Prepackaged News Story Announcement Act," legislation requiring "that all prepackaged, government-produced news stories - which are designed to be indistinguishable from those created by independent news organizations - include disclaimers notifying the audience that the government produced or funded the news segment." The bill will now be considered by the full Senate.

If you have no idea why such legislation is necessary, think back to last year, when the name Karen Ryan briefly became infamous in journalism circles. Ryan, who works in public relations, appeared in video news releases (vnr) from the Department of Health and Human Services in which she talked up the benefits of the then-new Medicare bill. In a flourish which certainly appeared intended to make a public relations product look like a journalistic one, she signed off at the end of the pieces with, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."

A number of local news stations ran the vnrs as though they were actual, reported news stories. As the Hollywood Reporter pointed out, one such vnr "shows the president receiving a standing ovation while signing the Medicare bill into law. Another features a pharmacist telling an elderly customer that the new law 'helps you better afford your medications,' to the obvious delight of said senior."

When I was at Columbia Journalism Review, my colleague Zachary Roth did a number of items on the topic, including an interview with Ryan. The always reliable Jay Rosen also has an interesting take on Ryan and roundup of the coverage that's worth checking out.

The legal status of the vnrs has long been unclear. As Rosen points out, the New York Times reported the following on May 20th of last year:

The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said on Wednesday that the Bush administration had violated federal law by producing and disseminating television news segments that portray the new Medicare law as a boon to the elderly.

The agency said the videos were a form of "covert propaganda" because the government was not identified as the source of the materials, broadcast by at least 40 television stations in 33 markets. The agency also expressed some concern about the content of the videos, but based its ruling on the lack of disclosure.

The consequences of the ruling were not immediately clear. The accounting office does not have law enforcement powers, but its decisions on federal spending are usually considered authoritative and are taken seriously by officials in the executive branch of the government.

Stay tuned.