FCC orders third party video sources to be shown

Responding to criticism over government videos being packaged as TV news reports, federal regulators reminded broadcasters Wednesday of rules requiring them to identify the source of such material.
Those rules "are grounded in the principle that listeners and viewers are entitled to know who seeks to persuade them" with TV programming, the Federal Communications Commission said in a public notice to broadcast licensees and cable operators.
Tens of thousands of people have asked the FCC to investigate the failure of broadcasters to disclose the source of the government videos, said Commissioner Michael Copps, adding that his agency should investigate each case.
The FCC is soliciting comments on the decades-old sponsorship identification rules and may seek to clarify them further.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy was criticized last year for a series of videos in which a narrator, sometimes identified as "Karen Ryan," said she was "reporting" on the office's activities. Separately, the Health and Human Services Department's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services produced video news releases, also narrated by "Karen Ryan," touting changes to Medicare.