Only after studying or producing media is it possible to truly understand what's really on Television.
In an October 16 Washington Post article, Howard Kurtz revealed how a Florida TV station was now a 'pay to play' network. Kurtz writes: David Morgan, a morning show staffer at the NBC affiliate in Tampa, minced no words when a public relations agent asked how he could get his client interviewed on the program. "You pay us and we do what you want us to do," Morgan told him Friday... Most networks and local television stations have strict rules against pay-for-play journalism. But at WFLA-TV, in the nation's 14th-largest market, producers on "Daytime" are not shy about asking guests to pony up. They have turned the routine daily booking of guests into a commercial transaction.
Fox Sports regularly auctions off writers jobs to audience members. One lucky winner spent $310 at eBay: Ever wanted to become a NASCAR writer? Bid now to cover NASCAR’s New England 300 for FOXSports.com. You just watch the race, and then give us your thoughts and perspectives. We will put your column on FOXSports.com, and include your picture if you would like, and we will also promote your column on Fox Sports Net. Bid now before it is too late!
Fox is offloading their workload onto the public even more so in Austrailia: The Australian production and development division of Fox Television Studios in Los Angeles is running a competition it is calling Pitch-O-Rama inviting people to submit their ideas for possible reality TV shows.
Meanwhile, Commercial Alert, a consumer watchdog organization, recently filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make TV product placement illegal. From ClickZ: Calling undisclosed paid placement advertising "an affront to basic honesty," Commercial Alert wants all product placements (along with plot integration and title placements, paid spokespersons, etc.) prominently disclosed to ensure consumers know placements are, in fact, paid for by advertisers. Gary Ruskin, the group's executive director, regards product placement as "stealth advertising" and "veiled commercial pitches."
On the other hand, according to this Salon article, the United States Congress, back in 1999: created an enormous financial incentive for TV programmers to push anti-drug messages in their plots -- as much as $25 million in the past year and a half, with the promise of even more to come in the future. Under the sway of the office of President Clinton's drug czar, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, some of America's most popular shows -- including "ER," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Chicago Hope," "The Drew Carey Show" and "7th Heaven" -- have filled their episodes with anti-drug pitches to cash in on a complex government advertising subsidy... With this deal in place, government officials and their contractors began approving, and in some cases altering, the scripts of shows before they were aired to conform with the government's anti-drug messages. "Script changes would be discussed between Office of National Drug Control Policy and the show -- negotiated," says one participant.