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video news release on airport security (screenshot)]] A video news release (VNR) is a Public Relations Propaganda technique whereby a Video or Radio program is produced, edited and distributed to various media outlets, with the intent to shape Public Opinion , or to promote and Publicize a Media Personality , commercial product or service, or to advocate a particular Point Of View . Targeted broadcasters of produced VNRs may be local and national television, radio stations and cable networks (collectively, "media outlets") by PR firms, advertising agencies, marketing firms, Corporations , and Government agencies. (The term "VNR" is used primarily in the United States , where the use of VNR's produced by the U.S. government has brought public condemnation.) While unbounded by recognized standards of Journalistic Ethics , the most widely used form of VNR is crafted in the style of a news report and used, in whole or in part, primarily, during news and Public Affairs programs; yet, almost without exception, no mention is made within these programs that the source of a particular story is, in fact, a VNR. A related technique is the Satellite Media Tour . VNRs are in wide use in the United States and appear on corporate and publicly owned media outlets. DETAILS The typical "news report" style VNR will feature a paid Actor playing the role of news Correspondent ; interviews with experts (who often have legitimate, if biased, expertise); so called "man on the street" interviews with "average" people; and pictures of celebrities, products, service demonstrations, corporate Logos and the like, where applicable. In some cases the "man on the street" segments feature persons randomly selected and interviewed spontaneously, and in other cases actors are hired and directed by VNR producers to deliver carefully scripted comments. In addition, regardless of whether real people or professional actors appear, VNR Producers and Directors , unlike Journalist s, have complete discretion to excerpt and edit these "interviews" into short, self-serving ' Sound Bites ' which best fit the particular aim or point of view the VNR makers seek to advocate. MEDIA BROADCASTING OF VNRS Commercial television stations and other media outlets often broadcast only portions of a VNR. Frequently the actor playing the part of News Correspondent in the original VNR is removed, or "bumped" as it is known in VNR industry trade Slang , and one of the media outlet's regular journalists, known to its audience, is substituted. For example, an interview with a leading executive or scientist from a Pharmaceutical corporation -- an industry which was one of the early adopters of the VNR technique -- might be inter-cut with on-camera or spoken commentary from the media outlet's usual journalist. In a report released on April 6, 2006, the Center For Media And Democracy listed detailed information on 77 television stations that it said had broadcast VNRs in the prior 10 months, and which VNRs had been broadcast. CMD said that in each case the television station actively disguised the VNR content to make it appear to be its own reporting, and that more than one-third of the time, stations aired the pre-packaged VNR in its entirety. {Link without Title} BUSINESS PRODUCTION OF VNRS VNRs have been used extensively in business since at least the early 1980s. Corporations such as Microsoft and Phillip Morris , and the pharmaceutical industry generally, have all made use of the technique. According to the trade-group Public Relations Society of America, a VNR is the video equivalent of a press release. {Link without Title} However, John Stauber, an observer and critic of the Public Relations business says, "These fellows are whistling past the graveyard, assuring themselves that this all is no big deal. There was no hint of shame, certainly no apologizing, just apparent disdain for having their business practices dissected on the front page of the New York Times. They are proud of their work." http://www.prwatch.org/node/3374
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF VNRS During 2004 a scandal developed over the use of VNRs by the United States government and much debate, media coverage and analysis of the situation continues.
VNRS AND U.S. LAW
US COMMERCIAL PRODUCERS OF VNRS A number of Public Relations firms employ the VNR technique on behalf of their clients; there are a number of commercial production companies who specialize VNR production.
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