Among the video news releases uncovered were an item on ethanol plants aired on a Louisiana station that was created by a public relations firm on behalf of Siemens AG, a corporation with a financial stake in the construction of ethanol plants.

In another case, a Boston station edited and re-voiced a video segment produced by an outside company on behalf of Toshiba, Fisher-Price and Scholastic, whose kids’ products were featured in it.

The item ran at Christmas, without any indication to viewers it had been created as a news release. —FCC probes ‘fake news’ at U.S. TV stations (CBC)