It is truly a public service.

It’s worth a click.

…are short news segments which appear to be actual stories, but are in fact produced by corporations touting their products and services and provided free to cash strapped local news stations. This is nothing new — if you’ve ever been watching the news and seen an unfamiliar reporter waxing enthusiastic about the benefits of some pharmaceutical miracle or vacation hotspot, there’s a good chance that you were watching a video news release.

But even I was surprised to learn that news stations are running VNR’s produced by the Bush administration:

Federal investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.

The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8.

The materials were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, which called them video news releases, but the source is not identified. Two videos end with the voice of a woman who says, “In Washington, I’m Karen Ryan reporting.”

But the production company, Home Front Communications, said it had hired her to read a script prepared by the government.

Another video, intended for Hispanic audiences, shows a Bush administration official being interviewed in Spanish by a man who identifies himself as a reporter named Alberto Garcia.

Another segment shows a pharmacist talking to an elderly customer. The pharmacist says the new law “helps you better afford your medications,” and the customer says, “It sounds like a good idea.” Indeed, the pharmacist says, “A very good idea.”

The government also prepared scripts that can be used by news anchors introducing what the administration describes as a made-for-television “story package.”

In one script, the administration suggests that anchors use this language: “In December, President Bush signed into law the first-ever prescription drug benefit for people with Medicare. Since then, there have been a lot of questions about how the law will help older Americans and people with disabilities. Reporter Karen Ryan helps sort through the details.”

The “reporter” then explains the benefits of the new law.

— snip —

“The use of video news releases is a common, routine practice in government and the private sector,” Mr. Keane said. “Anyone who has questions about this practice needs to do some research on modern public information tools.”

I’ve heard a lot of stories about home ownership, since I started the house hunting process. My favorite comes from a friend, who bought a place which turned out to be infested — not with termites, or mice, or even rats — but with squirrels, who had apparently set up a cozy little nest in the walls. (Don’t ask me how the inspector missed this.)

The place had previously been occupied by a renter, and my friend saw him one day and asked him about this and he said, as if this were a common household nuisance with which any homeowner should reasonably expect to contend, “Oh sure — the squirrels!”

I have a feeling that I am embarking upon a great and unpredictable adventure.

Okay, quick test of cognitive ability. John Kerry was recently caught on a live mike making the following comment:

“We’re going to keep pounding, let me tell you. We’re just beginning to fight here. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I’ve ever seen. It’s scary.”

To whom was he referring?

If you answered, “Why, obviously the crooked, lying sonsofbitches in the White House,” congratulations! Your basic reading comprehension skills, at minimum, rival that of the average third grader — which is apparently more than can be said for William Safire, who asks:

Was it wise for a candidate for president to characterize Republicans — tens of millions of American voters, including even veterans — as thieves and liars?

Okay, I’m being a little harsh. I’m sure the former Nixon speechwriter’s reading comprehension skills are at least at a third grade level. He’s just a hack. There’s no way that someone who spends as much time thinking about the meaning of words as he does could so blatantly misinterpret Kerry’s comment. He’s being deliberately obtuse in order to score a political point. He may have an independent streak, but as this site has documented on previous occasions, he’s usually willing to carry water for the Bush Administration.

Kerry himself has subsequently claimed that his comment referred to “the attack dogs.” It’s too bad he can’t just come out and say, “Yeah, I meant those crooked lying sonsofbitches in the White House, you wanna make something of it?” — but that’s beside the point. It’s painfully clear that he’s not referring to “tens of millions of American voters…even veterans,” and it’s a cheap rhetorical trick to pretend otherwise. Safire should be ashamed, but I don’t imagine that he is.