
"They are joined by some members of Congress and other groups who have asked the FCC to investigate whether the government and broadcasters are violating regulations by producing and airing what they say are deceptive public relations tools funded with taxpayer dollars.
"'It's essentially propaganda, it's so-called news that is promoting White House policies and is provided by the government and is not being labeled as such," said Josh Silver, a spokesman for Free Press, a watchdog group that recently helped to collect 40,000 signatures on a petition calling on the FCC, Congress and the broadcasters to "stop fake news.'"
In 2006, the CMD uped the ante, releasing a "report" condemning the use of all VNRs by TV stations. Much of what the CMD presented was either flat out wrong or deliberately distorted, but that didn't stop two FCC commissioners from siding with the CMD and speaking out before hearing the other side of the story.
I helped form and then lead an industry group, which hired a Washington attorney specializing in FCC matters. He reviewed the CMD report and agreed it was one-sided and seriously flawed from a legal standpoint. He sent a letter to the FCC chairman that included this:
"CMD, nevertheless, cites so-called VNR 'abuses' that have nothing to do with controversial or political matters and do not involve the alleged payment of money or other consideration to the broadcaster, including:
As happens so often in such things, the entire "fake news" fiasco died a natural death. Sorry conservative readers, but there's nothing to see here. Move along.