KPIX-5, CBS (TV Station)
| Fake TV News: A CMD Special Report |
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| This article is part of the Center for Media and Democracy's special report, Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed. Click here to read the report summary. |
KPIX-5 is a San Francisco, California television station and an affiliate of the CBS television network.
Contents
Station Owner
Use of Video News Releases and/or Satellite Media Tours
In the 6pm news bulletin on January 27, 2006 the station broadcast an edited and re-voiced video news release (VNR) produced by MultiVu for Pfizer on a new inhalable insulin treatment, Exubera. The broadcast item was half original reporting and half VNR. [1]
Responses to "Fake TV News" Report
KPIX-5 spokesperson Akilah Monifah told the San Francisco Weekly that their airing of a Pfizer VNR "was clearly a mistake and a violation of our own policy and a violation of FCC rules." Monifah told SF Weekly that "KPIX rarely includes footage from VNRs in its stories ... and only makes exceptions when 'the footage is for background in a story, and it's footage that we did not possess.' Station policy is to attribute the source of that footage." [2]
On April 10, 2006, KPIX-5 vice-president of news Dan Rosenheim emailed in response to a viewer complaint, "A new reporter on our staff failed to attribute the source of this video, which was used in a story about a local company. This is a violation of long-standing CBS 5 policy, which requires that all out-sourced video be labeled as such. I apologize for this error."
Ironically, Rosenheim has told the San Francisco Chronicle the previous week, "We draw a strict line between news and sales, and we don't do product placement on our news." The Chronicle was reporting on another TV station, KRON-4, which had offered advertisers time in their news shows. [3]
Contact Details
KPIX-TV
855 Battery St.
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone (Switch): 415-362-5550
Fax: 415-765-8844
Web: http://cbs5.com
SourceWatch Resources
- Audio news releases
- B-Roll
- Brand Hype
- Branded Entertainment
- Media releases
- Satellite Media Tours
- Radio Media Tours
- Public Service Announcements
- Video news releases: PR for California's Schwarzenegger administration
External links
- Evelyn Nussenbaum, "Cash-strapped KRON is letting advertisers buy into news broadcasts. The boss says it's just a sign of the times." San Francisco Chronicle April 5, 2006.
- Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed: A multimedia report on television newsrooms' use of material provided by PR firms on behalf of paying clients", Center for Media and Democracy, April 6, 2006.
- Ryan Blitstein, "Irrational Exubera," San Francisco Weekly, April 12, 2006.
