A failure to follow up by newsrooms and an American public that doesn't understand the TV news business contributed heavily to the Medicare VNR flap widely covered over the last two weeks, according to one of its key players.

Karen Ryan

In an interview with O'Dwyer's, Karen Ryan, a PR consultant who was the voice on one of the controversial spots, said a fairly sound story by The New York Times gave way to a two-week news cycle of distortions and character attacks.

"Newspapers made it sound like Karen Ryan perpetrated a fraud by somehow getting these spots on TV," she said. "The American public doesn't understand what happens in the news business. So when they read the government is putting out ‘fake news,' of course they're angry. They think, ‘Oh my gosh, our news is coming from the government and they're hiring actors to do it.' They don't realize a producer or editor put it on the air."

Ryan said the "actor" label is one of the more egregious tags she has been hit with – "hooker" and a "phony" were notable others over the last few weeks. "It's not about playing a reporter; I never pretended to do that," she said. "In just about every VNR a voice-over will say, ‘I'm so-and-so reporting.' You're not telling a newsroom this is the way the story goes. You're telling them this is what a cut spot looks and sounds like with your information. Some of the coverage made it sound like HHS [Dept. of Health and Human Services] had a casting call and I was the best actor for the job."

Ryan is a former reporter for NPR's "Nightly Business Report."

Ryan, who said the VNRs were clearly marked as from the government, suggested the media attacks on VNRs are essentially a misguided affront to PR. "PR people and news people have worked together for quite awhile," she said. "It's not a deceitful, terrible relationship. A TV producer would never know to cover certain things if a PR person never called."

Cartoon for O'Dwyer's by Bill Kresse

She said she's somewhat dismayed that the PR industry and its service companies, with the exception of Medialink, were not out front on the issue. Ryan suggested that perhaps reporters on the story hadn't contacted them, as few contacted her for the numerous stories written about her. "When the Cleveland Plain-Dealer calls you a fraud without even bothering to contact you, it is a little frustrating," she said.

Ryan said a letter to the editor sent to the Times, along with a note to its public editor have apparently fallen on deaf ears.

Ryan runs the Karen Ryan Group in Washington, D.C., handling media training, corporate videos and other PR work. She was called in for the Medicare assignment by Washington, D.C.-based Home Front Communications and has done the voiceover for other government VNRs in the past. Ryan notes that the Clinton Administration also used the tool to promote points about Medicare.

The General Accounting Office is probing the VNRs, partly at the urging of Democrats, to see if the Bush Administration is using tax dollars to promote a Medicare bill it strongly supported through Congress.

Ryan is most critical of the media for the story, but warns that if she could become the center of a firestorm, then few are safe. "Somehow I became an actress, and somewhere the perception became that the government really tried to fool somebody and they hired me to play the key role," she said. "If the VNR industry is new to the print people, they should take a look at the way the rest of the media operate."

Kevin Foley, Pres. & CEO, KEF Media (3/30):
Robert Pear, the NYT reporter who "broke" this story, was surprised to hear that TV Guide did it 15 years ago as a cover story called "Fake News".

What I want to know is where is the Home Front Communications CEO, Ms. Ryan...why are you taking all the heat? Where is Paul Frick, the firm's co-founder? I googled the Home Front and it doesn't have a web site...what's up with that?

A little integrity please (3/30):
As an independent publicist who at one point pitched VNR's, several of them being "medical stories" or so I was told, I became frustrated and saddened that most were advertisements for prescription drugs masquerading as medical stories.

Often, when I pitched to medical producers at network affiliates, the first question I was asked was, "What pharma is pushing this?". Yes, certainly some of the VNR's are very useful to the public.

However, often they're nothing more than an advertisement. And, sadly it's the consumer who ends up footing the bill with skyrocketing costs for the designer drugs.

The VNR business is profitable for those who produce and distribute them. There's nothing wrong with making money. There just needs to be some integrity and credibility involved. And no one person should take the fall within this industry.

Observer (3/30):
Like anything else, there's a fine line between ethical and questionable. In VNR land, that line is constantly blurred. But Ryan is correct in that producers and TV editors are the guardians of what is appropriate and what is just fluff. They blew it here, and are trying to criticize PR to take the fall.

Satellite Man (3/30):
Ryan's right and wrong. She was clearly and unfairly singled out because of sloppy reporting and the undeniable power of the New York Times' front page. But she also must realize that by saying "I'm Karen Ryan reporting," she puts up the appearance of claiming to be a reporter, which, I would imagine, irks reporters.

The TV news people who let this one slip through are the first to blame here. They screwed up and few, if any, will admit that.

Part of this is that the media is in something of a denial mode over the PR industry. Many reporters insist they can easily function with PR departments or firms and that belief sometimes extends to animosity toward the field. This episode is part of that.

Rasputin (3/30):
I have been following the saga of Karen Ryan, the maligned PR executive who has been ripped to shreds over the use of VNRs.

The woman got caught up in the media's attempt to bring down the Bush Whitehouse (okay, not a very hard thing to do), and because she was contracted to do the VNR and voice-over, she was personified as all that's evil in DC.

Two issues come to mind. First, Karen has made her point, she's been vilified, it's quite possible her business will be hurt from this event. But, it's time to let it go and stop going out and overly publicizing the event.

Second, where are the PR stalwarts in defense of the use of VNRs? Who among us has not used a VNR for a client, particularly consumer oriented? I can think of PR people that I know who have appeared in VNRs for Virus software, digital cameras, beauty products ... the list goes on. Where are the Harold Bursons, Al Golins defending the industry? Where are the Dick Edelmans or Howard Pasters and their Op-Ed pieces for the New York Times? Where are the Larry Webers, Peter Finns and John Grahams presenting the positive light of VNRs and their value in public relations and newsrooms?

How are we supposed to look up to these leaders, when they aren't leading?

Or, where are the production houses, defending a mainstay of their business? Hello DSS? Hello MediaSource...

Thanks for standing up for the industry that provides you the money to pay your bills.