John Oliver’s had his eye on local news stations for years (2017, to be precise) after the far-right empire, Sinclair Broadcast Group, began taking over stations and requiring trusted local figures to recite scripted right-wing rhetoric. And on Sunday night, Oliver brought a related issue (involving local news trustworthiness) to the forefront: sponsored content that can include enormously fake (and possibly dangerous) medical products. In short, Last Week Tonight shelled out $7,200 (total) to local stations in Denver, Austin, and Utah. In return, the news programs aired segments on a fake product that claimed to be the “world’s first sexual wellness blanket” (called the “Venus Veil”).
The local news stations in question were more than happy to give airtime for an actress to promote this sexy blanket (for which the HBO show set up an actual website, VenusInventions.com, to make it look more legit) that claimed to “fix erectile issues and improve vaginal lubrication” through “magnetogenetics.” Yikes. As Oliver declared, “the integrity of local news is crucially important… The f*ck are you doing?” Well, these local news stations (Utah’s KTVX-TV, Austin’s KVUE-TV, and Denver’s KMGH-TV) are now apparently examining whatever “the f*ck they are doing.”
As Deadline reveals, representatives from two of the stations have issued statements:
A spokesperson for Tegna, owner of the Austin station, said that the segment aired on FYI Austin, is a two-minute commercial spot that is not a part of the KVUE newscast. “While it is a commercial spot, it was an error to air it, and we are reviewing our processes, so this doesn’t happen again,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for The E.W. Scripps Co., owner of the Denver station, said that they “take the integrity of our content very seriously.” The segment ran on a sponsored show called Mile High Living…. We are vetting our review processes for non-news segments to ensure our stations follow the proper standards.”
The representative for the Denver station added there are “clear distinctions” on their programs to differentiate news and lifestyle programming, and that sponsorships are identified with the rep stating, “We believe our viewers understand the differences” between the two types of programming. Still, the “Venus Veil” segment is prompting a review process, which can only be a good thing (in the long run) for local news watchers. As Oliver pointed out, these stations are “doing massive harm to their credibility,” and it doesn’t really matter (in Oliver’s eyes) that sponsorships are labeled as such. “There are certain businesses local stations should not be selling themselves out for,” he pointed out, and that includes sexy blankets that look like insulation while promising “claims that are, to put it charitably, medically dubious.”
(Via Deadline)
