WUSA TV, Mr. Stanley and Mr. Cabrey:
I was interested in Mike Walter's report on WUSA 9 News this morning about the "bovineunite.com" web site. Mr. Walter simply reported about how it's a new web site getting a lot of 'buzz', and that the site even features a cow blog. Several screenshots of the site were featured, and Mike and Andrea both got a chuckle out of the story.
I was surprised, however, that Mr. Walter failed to mention that the site, which is indeed getting a lot of "buzz" on the Internet, is universally regarded as being a so-called "viral" ad campaign, most likely for a major fast food restaurant.
So I'm left with only three possible explanations for this report:
1. WUSA, showing a stunning lack of media savvy, reported on the "popular new web site" without realizing that real cows don't actually blog, and that it is really, in fact, a commercial advertisement.
2. The writers of the segment knew full well that the site was a commercial advertisement, but didn't think it was important to include this information in the report.
3. The segment was a commercial advertisement presented with no disclaimer and disguised as a light "human interest" story.
So which is it?
In this era where the line between news and advertising is so often blurred, I consider this to be a serious question, and I would appreciate a serious answer.
Sincerely,
[Princess Sparkle Pony]
Think they'll answer?
EDIT: I really want to get to the bottom of this, because I don't think fake news is funny, no matter how silly it may get. I started a diary about it at Kos, so hopefully some of the folks there will have some ideas about how to pursue this.
UPDATE: I sent a variation on the letter above the Mike Walter, the anchorman himself! The subject line of my email was a catchy "Fake news? Or just sloppy journalism?" Also, I watched the WUSA news when I got home, and amongst the banalities, they didn't do any more cutesy stories about blogging cows.
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