Battleangel

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has documented how television newsrooms use video news releases (VNR or fake news) instead of doing their job. And worse still, the material is being presented completely uncritically and without divulging its true purpose nor who is behind the PR clips.

In sum, television newscasts — the most popular news source in the United States — frequently air VNRs without disclosure to viewers, without conducting their own reporting, and even without fact checking the claims made in the VNRs. VNRs are overwhelmingly produced for corporations, as part of larger public relations campaigns to sell products, burnish their image, or promote policies or actions beneficial to the corporation.