Critics row over US government's 'fake news' video clips

The New Zealand Herald: "The Bush administration has produced news look-alike video propaganda clips and successfully persuaded television news stations across the country to air them uncritically and, often, uncut. As many as 20 government departments have produced fake news that stations relayed as though they had produced the segments themselves according to the standard rules of journalism, the New York Times reported.

US media critics have always liked to complain about a proliferation of fake news peddling the official line on any given issue. Now, increasingly, their complaints are being vindicated by the behaviour of government officials themselves. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is at the centre of a growing controversy over precisely the same thing - using public funds to make short pseudo-journalistic films touting controversial policies and passing them on to local television news stations, which have aired them without comment. "