Unsubstantiated claims, hidden agendas, glossing over the facts—these are the hallmarks of video news releases (VNRs), the favoured sales tools for pharmaceutical companies and the Bush administration alike. And they are loved by the PR firms paid to produce them. So with the FCC looking into having VNRs carry full disclosure messages, the PR firms have come out swinging.

After a 10-month study on VNR use, the Center for Media and Democracy, along with Free Press, two non-profit media watchdogs, asked the FCC to require news outlets to file public reports on VNR use, as well as include clear notifications of a report’s paying sources during broadcast. Now more than a dozen PR firms involved with VNRs are readying their own spin for their battle against “the latest wave of public scrutiny.”

Though few thinking people would see a parallel, lead VNR producer Medialink’s CEO Larry Moskowitz says CMD’s rules “were not written for the newsroom or for the PR industry.” Moskowitz calls the demands for honest reporting a “frightening” form of government censorship.

» Scott Saxon