The rapid growth in video news releases has been attacked by ITN’s
editor-in-chief, Richard Tait, as ’a very serious issue which we must
address’.
He was speaking in Berlin at News World ’97, the annual conference of
the international TV news industry.
’We want more access, not more VNRs. I am interested in journalism not
advertisements,’ said Tait, who called for more openness by big
corporations and for broadcasters to ’keep their nerve’.
But during a debate entitled Third Hand News, chaired by BBC’s Peter
Snow, other television executives were less hostile to the rise of
VNRs.
The head of CBC News in Canada, Kelly Crighton, said: ’These things are
inevitable. We probably use more corporate material than we think we
do ... It depends on how honest they (VNR producers) are. We need to
know if so-called independent producers are truly independent, and we
should always label VNR material clearly for the viewers.’
Anthony Hayward of the VNR supplier Bulletin International vigorously
defended the use of video by companies, arguing that ’video news
release’ was a confusing phrase, preferring to say ’background
material’.
He believes that ’videos simply help broadcasters to illustrate press
releases. Very often it is a win-win situation. Broadcasters often can’t
afford to send a crew to a press conference, or to shoot production line
pictures at short notice.’
Larry Moskowitz, president of Medialink, insisted that VNRs help
journalists, adding: ’This battle for influence over the news has
probably been going on forever. The runner from Marathon to Athens was
probably carrying a press release. Today it would be a cassette.’
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