This isn’t a health news story.
But it could have been.
TVSpy.com estimates that 27 local TV stations across the country all used the same script for filler material. They reported:
Conan O’Brien poked fun at content-sharing in local news this week, showing a clip on his show of several anchors repeating the same phrase — “push the envelope” — while reporting on the late night host’s plans to officiate a same-sex wedding on his show.
The original source of the copy was CBS Newspath, according to staffers at two stations featured in the clip. Although “Conan” only showed 18 stations, a search of TVEyes.com reveals that 27 stations reported the story using identical wording.
In each case, the TV station has filled news time at no expense, grabbing a feed from CBS without having to pay a reporter to hit the streets and do some enterprise reporting on some important local issue.
Watch and weep.
We’ve written many times about journalism-via-news-release. Here’s an example that didn’t involve TV news but print journalism.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Major revisions + reversals of reporting about the efficacy of remdesivir and HCQ have compromised the public's trust in scientists and physicians. Complexity and caution are key to public #COVID19 communications @garyschwitzer https://ja.ma/3fzUW0M
SPH adjunct associate professor @garyschwitzer presented to @Georgetown University public health students on how #covid19 has been "the perfect storm of politics, PR, and polluted messages to the public."
Watch the recorded zoom presentation here: https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2020/09/perfect-storm-of-politics-pr-polluted-messages-to-the-public/.
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