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Fake TV News Subject of Reports and FCC Investigation

Press release: “Which would you think has more substantive news coverage — traditional broadcast network newscasts or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart? Would you believe the answer is neither? Julia R. Fox, assistant professor of telecommunications at Indiana University isn’t joking when she says the popular “fake news” program, which last week featured Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as a guest, is just as substantive as network coverage. While much has been written in the media about The Daily Show’s impact, Fox’s study is the first scholarly effort to systematically examine how the comedy program compares to traditional television news as sources of political information. The study, “No Joke: A Comparison of Substance in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Broadcast Network Television Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign,” will be published next summer by the Journal of Broadcast and Electronic Media, published by the Broadcast Education Association.”

  • “The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released today a full rebuttal of claims made against its April 2006 report, Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed. The report tracked television stations’ use of video news releases (VNRs), narrated pre-packaged segments produced by public relations firms for their clients. The report documented 77 television stations airing VNRs or related materials; not once did stations disclose the client behind the segment. The report led the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch an investigation of the 77 stations named, in August 2006.” [Link]
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