A birthday salute to Bisquick that used parts of a VNR created by Medialink is one of five segments on a CN8 news show that the Federal Communications Commission considers to be in “apparent” violation of its sponsorship identification rules.
Bisquick, a product of General Mills, is the only product shown during the 1:22 minute Oct. 3, 2006 segment on “Art Fennell’s (consumer) Reports” show. There was no disclosure that the footage came from Medialink.
The FCC says “fleeting or transient” references to products or brand names are o.k.
The Bisquick logo or packaging are on the screen for almost all of the segment.
An FCC announcement Sept. 26, 2007 said that Comcast, owner of CN8, violated its rules of sponsor identification in airing the Bisquick segment as did CN8 segments for Wheaties of GM on Sept. 26, 2006; Allstate Insurance on the same date, and Trend Micro Software on Sept. 28, 2006.
CN8 was also accused of the same type of violation in airing segments for Nelson’s Rescue Sleep on Sept. 26, 2006. [Click for Sept. 21 FCC notice (PDF).]
RTNDA & NABC Blast FCC
The Radio-TV News Directors Assn. and the National Assn. of Broadcast Communicators (14 firms involved in the production and/or distribution of VNRs) have said that FCC incursion into broadcast newsrooms is a violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment.
Comcast, one of the two biggest cable companies in the U.S., along with Time Warner and other cable companies have argued that the federal government has no right to interfere in newsrooms, and while the FCC has jurisdiction over the airwaves, it does not have it over cable companies. The FCC says it has such jurisdiction.
“The press is supposed to be free of government interference and intervention,” Barbara Cochran, president of RTNDA, has said.
Commissioner Adelstein Backs Action
FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein backed the decision of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to “enforce our sponsorship identification rules, and to propose, for the first time, a forfeiture for failure to disclose the sponsor of a VNR. FCC rules are clear: viewers have a right to know who is trying to persuade them so they can make up their own minds about what they are presented. I applaud Chairman Kevin Martin’s leadership, and look forward to quick action on the many other pending VNR complaints.”
The Center for Media and Democracy, headed by John Stauber, has been pressing VNR producers to provide frame-by-frame identification of the source of a video. The CMD presented the FCC with its research on VNR identification and asked for action.
Sleep Product Had “Extensive Images”
The segment for Nelson’s Rescue Sleep—a sleep-aid product which contains 27% alcohol—on the Fennell consumer report program, has “extensive images and mentions of the product and includes the statement that ‘If you are one of the estimated 70 million Americans who have trouble sleeping, Rescue Sleep may be what you’re looking for,’” said the FCC. A VNR for Rescue Sleep was distributed by D S Simon Productions.
Allstate: Equity Can Grow in Life Insurance
The Sept. 26, 2006 Allstate VNR (cited by the FCC) has this sentence: “Life insurance is like money in the bank. And like a retirement account, the equity can grow and can be used to pay for almost anything, funeral expenses, debts, or to maintain a certain standard of living.”
The GM Wheaties’ VNR material [link], which aired on “Art Fennell Reports” Sept. 26, 2006, “contains both mentions of the ‘Wheaties’ brand name and has extensive images of the product,” the FCC said, adding: “We reject Comcast’s argument that it received no consideration for the cablecast.”
The theme of the VNR, produced by Medialink, was that successful dieters regularly eat breakfast.
Appeals Have Been Filed
Comcast has appealed the potential $20,000 in fines that it might have to pay ($4,000 per violation) and an amicus brief has been filed by the NABC in support of the appeal.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin is now considering the complaints and the appeal.
Kevin Foley of KEF Media Assocs., president of the NABC, said the public has the right to know the sources of information coming over the public airwaves.
VNR producers and other sources must tell the broadcasters of the origins of the materials and broadcasters must disclose these sources to the public “in the best way they see fit,” he said.
Government must not substitute its judgment for that of the newscaster in identifying sources but “should only determine whether a broadcaster has acted reasonably and in good faith in making its decisions,” he added.
Members of the NABC are Auritt Communications, D S Simon Productions, DWJ Television, Gordon Productions, Gourvitz Communications, Home Front Communications, KEF Media Assocs., MediaLink Worldwide, MultiVu, News Broadcast Network, On The Scene Productions, PLUS Media, VNR-1 Communications, and West Glen Communications. |