Writer's Guild Slams TV News

 
In the Writer's Guild report Broadcast Newswriters Speak About News Quality, industry insiders echo what "the internet" has been saying about TV news for years: Television news is not fit to watch, much less tap for serious information about the real world. Among problems cited by TV news professionals are staff cutbacks, non-existent journalistic standards, and a flood of video news releases.

Video news releases or VNRs, are propaganda tapes and feeds provided by corporate and government PR agencies, and broadcast as straight news. Local stations look on VNRs as a way to fill airtime without spending a dime, and rarely if ever bother to ask whether the stories are true.