Homestead mailing list

[DSanner106 AT aol.com]

In a message dated 3/14/2005 11:57:16 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
melody AT crecon.com writes:

>Drew

((((This was an interesting snippet that relates to  what you have said, Drew:

(("Whether a stricter ethics code will have  much effect is unclear; it is not
((hard to find broadcasters who are not  adhering to the existing code, and
((the association has no enforcement  powers.
 
Very true, if you are a small market station, it makes your resources  look
much greater than they are by accepting and broadcasting canned  pieces,
not just from the govt., but other sources as well. Most stations can't  
afford
full time reporters in DC and other cities, and don't identify the source  to 
imply
they produced it themselves. 




((The Federal Communications Commission does, but it has never  disciplined a
((station for showing government-made news segments without  disclosing their
((origin, a spokesman said."

These pieces are given out with broadcast permissions, so no copyright  
violations
have occurred. The only way a station can be hurt is to broadcast  falsehoods 
and be
sued for it. Then identifying the source would have helped somewhat. 


((Without recognition of who is really speaking does make it  propaganda;
((otherwise an unaware TV watcher simply thinks that the  segment is an
((unbiased look at how things really are.  
Very true, hopefully, the FCC will decide to impose actual requirements for  
identification. 
Simply calling this a violation of ethics will never be enough to dissuade  
stations from this practice.
 
Drew