In an earlier post, I pointed to the fine being levied against Comcast for airing fake news and propoganda without disclosing the source. Today, the FCC has announced four more fines for Comcast, totaling $16,000.

John Eggerton has an article online at Broadcasting & Cable that outlines the scope of these fines. He reports "The newest four VNRs to be cited were for the Wheaties Fit to Win Challenge, Allstate Insurance, Trend Microsoftware and Bisquick's 75th anniversary, all airing in fall 2006 on Comcast's CN8, The Comcast Network, a regional cable news channel in 12 states and the District of Columbia." While some might say fines like these are just a slap on the wrist for a company like Comcast, it has seemed to make a difference. Eggerton reports, "Comcast while arguing against the fines, also told the FCC that all future VNRs from a third party would be identified on-screen."

More than 50,000 Free Press activists called on the FCC to take action against the prepackaged propoganda commonly called Video News Releases or VNRs. We are glad the FCC is taking a stand, but more than 100 other stations have aired fake news and have escaped without punishment. The FCC needs to look into all of the cases Free Press helped to expose.

For more information on Free Press's efforts to expose fake news visit: http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=275 or http://www.freepress.net/fakenews