BROOKE GLADSTONE: At a press conference Wednesday, President Bush was asked about his administration's widespread and continuing use of video news releases. Here's what he had to say.

GEORGE W. BUSH: I think it'd be helpful if local stations then disclosed to their viewers, if that's - you know, that this was based upon a factual report, and they chose to use it. But, evidently, some cases that's not the case. So, anyway.

REPORTER: The administration could guarantee that's happening by including that language in the pre-packaged report

GEORGE W. BUSH: Yeah, I don't - you know - oh, you mean a disclosure? I'm George W. Bush, and I-

REPORTER: Well, some way to make sure it couldn't air without the disclosure that you believe is so vital.

GEORGE W. BUSH: You know, Ken, I mean there's a - there's a procedure that we're going to follow, and local stations ought to - if there's a deep concern about that, ought to tell their viewers what they're watching.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So, the president is putting all the onus on broadcasters. Joining us now is Barbara Cochran, head of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. So, Barbara, as a broadcast representative, what say you?

BARBARA COCHRAN: Well, there is a responsibility of broadcasters to examine very closely when they're going to use this material, what context they're going to use it in, and then if they do use it, to label it clearly. That is definitely the journalists' responsibility. But that still doesn't take away from the fact that this material is now flooding into stations from all different directions, not always clear as to the origin of this material, and there's got to be some government responsibility too.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: There are plenty of stations who run these spots and know exactly what they're doing, at least according to the Times. The Times found that some programmers were clipping off the out cue identifying the fake reporter as a government contractor, and others who had their own reporters re-record the VNR narration in their own voice.

BARBARA COCHRAN: I don't think we really know how prevalent that is. I mean I've done a little investigating, and know that for example, that the New York Times may have identified reports from a reporter appearing on a particular station, but in fact, that reporter works for a lot of different people, including the news service that that station subscribes to. So, just finding that reporter's work on their air doesn't mean that it necessarily came from the government. Every news director that I've spoken to is very clear that their policy is that this material needs to be labeled. Now, whether the producer working the weekend shift, or the producer working the early morning shift is always aware of that policy, or even if they know where this material is coming from, that's the question, and that's where all news departments have to do a good job of trying to reinforce this policy.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: I understand that individual stations draw up their own policies on the use of VNRs, but if you had the power to craft one that would apply to all newsrooms across the country, what would it say? Would any VNRs be allowed to run?

BARBARA COCHRAN: Well, I do think that VNRs do sometimes contain useful information. One example is the material that's put out by NASA, when they show what a space shot looks like, or there might be some information about food safety or other kinds of consumer safety issues. But, again, it needs to be included in something that is reported and originated by the journalists at that station, and if a government video news release is used, it needs to be clearly labeled.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Now, some activists and Democratic lawmakers are calling on the FCC to crack down on the use of government VNRs. Do you think there's any chance that there could be an FCC crackdown, and would that be a good thing?

BARBARA COCHRAN: I think that this is something that stations need to solve for themselves. It's in the station's interest to protect its credibility.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So, the president of the RTNDA would never advocate additional rules coming from the FCC. I understand that. On the other hand, though the RTNDA has a policy, it has absolutely no way to enforce it, and not even any way to monitor these infractions. So, broadcasters can continue to play these things without consequences.

BARBARA COCHRAN: You know, I think, again, the number of instances in which this material has actually been used are so few, relatively speaking, compared to all the information that goes out over the air all the time on so many local television stations.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: It may be small, the use of these VNRs, in relation to the huge amount of broadcast material out there, but for many local viewers, a government-produced VNR may be the only way they learn about changes in Medicare, or the only way they learn about how the Pentagon trains military police. And if they're coming from the government, it doesn't matter if it's a tiny part of the broadcast day. It could be their sole source of information, and it's tainted.

BARBARA COCHRAN: Certainly, if they're going to use that material, they need to put it into a context. That's what independent news people do. I think the attention that this issue is getting now is going to cause everyone to look at their policy, and what they need to think about is their credibility, and if the public comes to think that this news is being generated by sources who have an interest in what those stories are, then they're going to start to distrust the local news. That's why it's so important to be clear about this.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Well, Barbara, thank you very much.

BARBARA COCHRAN: Thank you.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Barbara Cochran is president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. [MUSIC]

BOB GARFIELD: Coming up, lawmakers and journalists unite to put the focus on a place where the sun don't shine: Washington.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: This is On the Media, from NPR.

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