Who is deceiving whom?

The Yellow Line yesterday reported on the FCC’s decision to require television broadcasters to disclose to viewers the origin of government produced video news releases. The U.S. Senate has joined the FCC by passing a measure that would prevent federal agencies from producing video press releases that are disguised as news. This is an additional welcome step.

In remarks to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on Thursday, President Bush cautioned that the responsibility for full disclosure rests with news outlets:

"It's deceptive to the American people if it's not disclosed. But it's incumbent upon people who use them to say, 'This news clip was produced by the federal government.'"

Yes, media outlets are not doing their job if they fail to report the source of “news.” However, the deception lies with the federal government for producing deliberately misleading material.