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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Long post, but access via the URL requires
registration. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm quite new to the list so if this falls outside
of the posting guidelines please let me know.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Julie-ann</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>________________________________</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>"It's running a paid advertisement in the heart of a news
program."<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/politics/15VIDE.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/politics/15VIDE.html</A><BR><BR>U.S.
Videos, for TV News, Come Under Scrutiny<BR>By ROBERT PEAR<BR>Published: March
15, 2004<BR><BR>WASHINGTON, March 14 — Federal investigators are scrutinizing
television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as
journalists<BR>praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be
offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription
medicines.<BR><BR>The videos are intended for use in local television news
programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing
ovation from a crowd<BR>cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec.
8.<BR><BR>The materials were produced by the Department of Health and Human
Services, which called them video news releases, but the source is not
identified. Two<BR>videos end with the voice of a woman who says, "In
Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."<BR><BR>But the production company, Home
Front Communications, said it had hired her to read a script prepared by the
government.<BR><BR>Another video, intended for Hispanic audiences, shows a Bush
administration official being interviewed in Spanish by a man who identifies
himself as a<BR>reporter named Alberto Garcia.<BR><BR>Another segment shows a
pharmacist talking to an elderly customer. The pharmacist says the new law
"helps you better afford your medications," and<BR>the customer says, "It sounds
like a good idea." Indeed, the pharmacist says, "A very good idea."<BR><BR>The
government also prepared scripts that can be used by news anchors introducing
what the administration describes as a made-for-television<BR>"story
package."<BR><BR>In one script, the administration suggests that anchors use
this language: "In December, President Bush signed into law the first-ever
prescription<BR>drug benefit for people with Medicare. Since then, there have
been a lot of questions about how the law will help older Americans and people
with<BR>disabilities. Reporter Karen Ryan helps sort through the details." The
"reporter" then explains the benefits of the new law.<BR><BR>Lawyers from the
General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, discovered the
materials last month when they were looking into<BR>the use of federal money to
pay for certain fliers and advertisements that publicize the Medicare
law.<BR><BR>In a report to Congress last week, the lawyers said those fliers and
advertisements were legal, despite "notable omissions and other
weaknesses."<BR>Administration officials said the television news segments were
also a legal, effective way to educate beneficiaries.<BR><BR>Gary L. Kepplinger,
deputy general counsel of the accounting office, said, "We are actively
considering some follow-up work related to the materials we<BR>received from the
Department of Health and Human Services."<BR><BR>One question is whether the
government might mislead viewers by concealing the source of the Medicare
videos, which have been broadcast by stations in<BR>Oklahoma, Louisiana and
other states.<BR><BR>Federal law prohibits the use of federal money for
"publicity or propaganda purposes" not authorized by Congress. In the past, the
General Accounting<BR>Office has found that federal agencies violated this
restriction when they disseminated editorials and newspaper articles written by
the government or<BR>its contractors without identifying the
source.<BR><BR>Kevin W. Keane, a spokesman for the Department of Health and
Human Services, said there was nothing nefarious about the television materials,
which he<BR>said had been distributed to stations nationwide. Under federal law,
he said, the government is required to inform beneficiaries about changes
in<BR>Medicare.<BR><BR>"The use of video news releases is a common, routine
practice in government and the private sector," Mr. Keane said. "Anyone who has
questions about<BR>this practice needs to do some research on modern public
information tools." </DIV>
<DIV><BR>But Democrats disagreed. "These materials are even more disturbing than
the Medicare flier and advertisements," said Senator Frank R.
Lautenberg,<BR>Democrat of New Jersey. "The distribution of these videos is a
covert attempt to manipulate the press."<BR><BR>Mr. Lautenberg, Senator Edward
M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and seven other members of Congress
requested the original review by the<BR>accounting office.<BR><BR>In the videos
and advertisements, the government urges beneficiaries to call a toll-free
telephone number, 1-800-MEDICARE. People who call that number<BR>can obtain
recorded information about prescription drug benefits if they recite the words
"Medicare improvement."<BR><BR>Documents from the Medicare agency show why the
administration is eager to advertise the benefits of the new law, on radio and
television, in<BR>newspapers and on the Internet.<BR><BR>"Our consumer research
has shown that beneficiaries are confused about the Medicare Modernization Act
and uncertain about what it means for them," says<BR>one document from the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.<BR><BR>Other documents suggest the
scope of the publicity campaign: $12.6 million for advertising this winter,
$18.5 million to publicize drug discount cards<BR>this spring, about $18.5
million this summer, $30 million for a year of beneficiary education starting
this fall and $44 million starting in the<BR>fall of 2005.<BR><BR>"Video news
releases" have been used for more than a decade. Pharmaceutical companies have
done particularly well with them, producing news-style health<BR>features about
the afflictions their drugs are meant to cure.<BR><BR>The videos became more
prominent in the late 1980's, as more and more television stations cut
news-gathering budgets and were glad to have<BR>packaged news bits to call their
own, even if they were prepared by corporations seeking to sell
products.<BR><BR>As such, the videos have drawn criticism from some news media
ethicists, who consider them to be at odds with journalism's mission to
verify<BR>independently the claims of corporations and
governments.<BR><BR>Government agencies have also produced such videos for
years, often on subjects like teenage smoking and the dangers of using steroids.
But the Med<BR>icare materials wander into more controversial
territory.<BR><BR>Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned
Journalists, expressed disbelief that any television stations would present the
Medicare videos as<BR>real news segments, considering the current debate about
the merits of the new law.<BR><BR>"Those to me are just the next thing to
fraud," Mr. Kovach said. "It's running a paid advertisement in the heart of a
news program."<BR><BR><BR>Jim Rutenberg contributed reporting for this
article.<BR><BR></DIV>
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