WYZZ owner in trouble for fake news reports

May 26, 2006 in Local

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin ordered a probe of dozens of television stations after a report found they aired advertisements as if they were news reports, people familiar with the inquiry said.

The April study by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy found at least 77 stations, including seven each owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Tribune Co., ignored an FCC warning to disclose sponsors. The maximum fine for each violation is $32,500, rising to a maximum of $325,000 whenever violations occur for 10 days or more, FCC spokesman Clyde Ensslin said.

“If the investigation leads to significant fines, the FCC could cause stations to put disclosures in place that make clearer the corporate role in local news,” said analyst Blair Levin of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in the District. “It depends how hard Martin wants to push it.”

I know this story is about politics as much as consumer protection. But still … you can turn on WMBD AM-1470 and hear any of the talk show hosts start hawking advertisers wares, all the while making it sound like a normal part of the broadcast and not an advertisement.

I fail to see how this is legal while what Sinclair did was not.

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2 Responses to “WYZZ owner in trouble for fake news reports”

Eyebrows McGee Says:
May 26th, 2006 at 3:15 am
“turn on WMBD AM-1470 and hear any of the talk show hosts start hawking advertisers wares … I fail to see how this is legal while what Sinclair did was not.”

“Talk Show” is the operative phrase. You can buy other people’s opinions; you can’t buy facts. Or so the theory goes.
BJStone Says:
May 27th, 2006 at 8:43 am
I think part of the problem here is political propaganda being disguised as news. When we in radio “start hawking wares”, it’s a live ad for a local business. When Greg and Dan do a live spot for a car dealer, it’s obvious within a few seconds that they are doing just that…a commercial for a car dealer. And what Eyebrows said is correct: newsmen Dave Dahl or Eddie Hammond are not doing the live ads, it’s the talk show hosts that do it.

The problem with this Sinclair bunch is they run canned “reports” during their newscasts that appear as if they are just another news story and that the “reporter” has been out “gathering the facts” of the story. When instead it’s just a two or three minute opinion…or an attempt to sway the public’s opinion (can you say Fox News?) without identifying it as such.

Remember, these Sinclair stations are the ones weho ordered 62 of their stations, with the potential to reach 24% of the U.S., to show the so-called documentary “Stolen Honor” in an obvious attempt to smear John Kerry right before the ‘04 election. They backed off on that plan under intense pressure, (and the fact their company stock dropped 15% in the first 10 days after they said they were running the smear-cumentary) and instead showed only parts of it on a special “POW” story they produced last minute.

They were also the group that ordered it’s seven ABC affiliates to not air the Nightline show where Ted Koppel just read names of fallen soldiers. But they feel it’s okay to air four minute “commercials” that are produced by special interests, and then disguised as investigative stories.