Shoddy T.V. journalists and a few words from their sponsors

Good morning! Mainstream journalists often accuse "trade" journalists of lacking objectivity, and "distance" from their sponsors. I maintain that objectivity and high standards should govern journalism of all types, whether for an industry journal, a daily newspaper or a T.V. news program. You may mention them objectively but you simply don't promote advertisers in reports, and you never include text from press releases, verbatim. Just noticed a juicy item on the PharmaGossip blog. The Center for Media and Democracy has noticed several cases where local TV news reporters included, verbatim, footage from drug company P.R. videos as part of their reportage, effectively allowing the companies to advertise on T.V. without the important "disclaimers" (e.g. "Ask your doctor about X, the greatest elixir of youth ever to enter the market. But please be aware that it may cause side effects that include blindness, intolerable pain, liver disease and, in rare cases, death. It has also caused E.D. in some patients, in which case we urge them to ask their doctors about Z, but warn that Z may cause....." ) This is not so much an indictment of the companies, but of lazy journalists. In any case, the report found several cases involving pharmceuticals and medical devices. To read up on each case, and compare the videos, click on: Stiefel Laboratories' Mymix Cream http://www.prwatch.org/fakenews/vnr10 Pfizer's Exubera http://www.prwatch.org/fakenews/vnr18 Bioiberica's miracle arthritis cure http://www.prwatch.org/fakenews/vnr7 Quest Diagnostics http://www.prwatch.org/fakenews/vnr2 -AMS