Why Is The Federal Government Running Ads Secretly Created & Owned By NBC Universal?
from the so-that's-how-it-works... dept
We certainly suspected this when New York City first announced that it was running a series of silly and misleading videos as part of a media campaign to "Stop Piracy in NYC," but now it's been confirmed that these videos were not, in fact, New York City's, but are purely NBC Universal's. At the time, NYC had "thanked" NBC Universal (among others), but had not admitted that NBC Universal "owned" and had created the videos themselves. However, in response to one of the Freedom of Information requests that I filed with New York City, the city noted that the videos are property of NBC Universal. I had asked for any licensing info between NYC and Homeland Security/ICE because ICE was using the same videos. Since NYC had clearly suggested that those videos were the creation of the NYC government, I assumed that ICE must have licensed the videos from NYC. However, NYC responded to my request by saying that there was no such info to hand over, because it did not license the videos to Homeland Security. And the reason was that NYC did not own the videos:The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment has no records responsive to your request. Please note that NBC Universal owns the material, not the City of New York.That's fascinating information. Of course, I had also filed a separate FOI request for any info on the licensing agreement between NYC and NBC Universal. As of this writing there has been no response from NYC, in violation of New York State's Freedom of Information Law, which requires a response within 5 business days (we're way beyond that).
Still, at least give NYC credit for making it clear that NBC Universal had a hand in the creation of the videos, even if it left out the rather pertinent information that it created and owned the videos. While I find it immensely troubling that a municipal government would run PSAs created by corporate interests (without making that clear), I'm extremely troubled by the news that the federal government would run those same videos with absolutely no mention of the fact that the videos were created and owned by a private corporation with a tremendous stake in the issue.
Could you imagine how the press would react if, say, the FDA ran PSAs that were created and owned by McDonald's without making that clear to the public? How about if the Treasury Department ran a PSA created and owned by Goldman Sachs? So, shouldn't we be asking serious questions about why Homeland Security and ICE are running a one-sided, misleading corporate propaganda video, created and owned by a private company, without mentioning the rather pertinent information of who made it?
Does Homeland Security work for the US public... or for NBC Universal?
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Filed Under: government, ice, psa
Companies: nbc universal
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Well, that's what I like to think when I'm bored, anyway.
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State breaking the law...
I'm a bit caught up on the above statement.... If i break the law, I get fined or go to jail.. what happens when the people that are supposed to be upholding the law start breaking it.... does that mean I'm off the hook? Or is this a do as I say not as I do situation?
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Re: State breaking the law...
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Re: State breaking the law...
You'd be amazed how receptive the FBI is to well documented reports of email offers of child pornography, for example.
xanthian.
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Follow the money
Hard to see how that's a problem since the Treasury Department is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs.
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Re: Follow the money
Its the same in the banking industry as it is in the media industry (rubberpants summary above). The government passes favorable legislation and/or goes easy on the regulation and Goldman puts out research that pats the back of the FED a glosses over the their mistakes, the poor economic data (that is actually much worse then when it is originally reported and covered by the MSM because typically, a week or so later, it is revised, often negativley depending on the metric), and of course the fact that we are printing paper faster than the San Fernando Valley is producing porno. So, the Treasury and the FED can pretty much say/do what they want and Goldman will shower them with love as long as the "financial pirates" are free to plunder as they please. America... Fuck Yeah.
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Remember when Jason Blair was found to have made up all sorts of stories when he worked for the New York Times? He would do things like make up quotes from interviews he didn't do, and so on.
I remember reading an opinion piece by one of their editors that wondered why it went on for so long without any of the people being misquoted raising a stink about it. The reason, which the editor didn't understand, is that everybody KNOWS that papers can't be trusted. They KNOW that quotes are wrong, and that the reporters will get a substantial amount of the facts incorrect. When the people saw themselves misquoted by Blair, they mostly just shrugged and assumed that's business as usual for the media.
The Times didn't understand that Blair got away with it for so long because the media didn't really have any credibility to begin with.
Anyway, I feel that's the same case here. Who is surprised that state or federal agencies are simply running promo pieces created by the industry? I would have thought this has been standard practice for decades. Not that it isn't corrupt; but it's the level of corruption we've learned to expect. Now, I'm all for Mike continuing to sound the alarm over this issue, because it IS corrupt. It's just sadly not unexpected.
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Police or Corporate State?
There were no armed rebellions, no tear gas or riots, no storming of palaces. Nope, only backdoor wheeling, dealing and payoffs through contributions or cushy jobs. All this while we were blissfully unaware.
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Re: Police or Corporate State?
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
And the cause is obvious: when the government is allowed the power to pick winners and losers in business, don't be surprised when businesses buy politicians and political favors. If people really want to get out from under the thumb of corporations, they should look at giving the government less power, not more.
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Re: Re: Police or Corporate State?
I am all for that!
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xanthian, three time election poll site volunteer.
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And then tell our friends, coworkers, and family why we stopped.
We can stop buying products advertised on NBC. Because if we really want to impact NBC we impact their bottom line: advertising. And tell our friends, coworkers, and family why we stopped.
I have a list of ~20 companies I no longer do *any business with. They have either stolen my money, pissed me off, spammed me, or generally did not make a wrong right. They will *never* see a dime of my money ever again.
I am a technology purchaser/implementer where I work, with an annual budget in the 6 figures. There are large and small companies alike that, over the course of 10 years have lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars due to *just pissing me off once.* Now add that by all the advice I give to friends and family. Add all that cessation of product use for generations.
People CAN make a difference.
Surely I can't be alone?
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Re: Re: NBC
Unless you have a Nielsen box attached to your TV, that won't make a damn bit of difference.
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Re: Re: Re: NBC
That's starting to change. Advertisers are paying more attention to things like Twitter and Facebook. Start twittering about, e.g., Game of Thrones and you'll strike a tiny blow.
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Astonishing.
xanthian, mated to an NBC Nightly News addict.
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-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1882-1945), 32nd US President
November 21, 1933
Source: in a letter written to Colonel E. Mandell House
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~Theodore Roosevelt
Maybe we should elect someone named "Roosevelt" in 2012. Just a thought.
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Re: Roosevelt quote
Is it really believable that a man with the courage and skills to lead wars against enemies on both sides of the continent, from a wheelchair, had the fatalistic unwillingness to take on the big money who caused the Great Depression that your quote suggests?
Wow.
Life is a puzzlement.
xanthian.
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While this is appalling, this is nothing new. It's been happening since 1913.
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Not NBC Universal
The only reason I know that is because I've researched heavily into the near media blackout of the Fukushima crisis... GE being the makers and designers of those failed reactors.... and was lead to GE's ownership of NBC Universal.
What has happened here in the modern era of corporatism is that Vertical Integration has gone well beyond Carnegie's days of raw materials/production/transport/supply...
Vertical Integration in 2011 means owning every step from creation to consumption AND owning the media that the consumers learn from, reinforcing your brand at every turn and making the bad news related to you simply disappear.
Downright diabolical.
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Re: Not NBC Universal
Um. GE sold NBC Universal to Comcast, remember?
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Re: Not NBC Universal
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xanthian.
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Re: Not NBC Universal
If you bought a new car and drove it for 30 years and performed shabby maintenance (imagine only a few oil changes over 30 years), sub-standard parts, and not doing anything the manufacturer recommended or asked you to do). If the car got in an accident and then didn't start and blew up would you really blame the manufacturer??
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Not the first time
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Does Homeland Security work for the US public... or for NBC Universal?
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Re: Does Homeland Security work for the US public... or for NBC Universal?
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Late to the party
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Re: Late to the party
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Re: Late to the party
Don't count the negligible whitecaps of hits, count the underlying oceans of lies from Glenn Beck.
xanthian.
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Why Is The Federal Government Running Ads From Its Corporate Partners?
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hmm.
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oh the horror... the corruption!!!!
Corporations donate goods and services to government all the time. Try to find something newsworthy for a change rather than conjuring up these desperate conspiracy theories to whip up your fellow tin foil hat wearers.
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So, Mike just conjured this story up, eh? Me thinks your corpocracy colors are showing. Which do yo work for, the gov't or one of it's corporate partners? Never mind answering, it's practically the same either way.
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You see this as fine. I don't. Many others don't. The government does not work for NBC Universal, and the video NBC Universal created is misleading and at times blatantly false. Furthermore, the governments of both NYC and the federal government gave the impression that they had created the video themselves.
So I ask the same question which you ignored: would you be okay if the FDA ran a PSA created and owned by McDonalds without revealing the source? Would you be okay if the Fed ran a PSA created and owned by Goldman Sachs without revealing the source?
By the way, who do you work for?
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The point, though, is that this bespeaks an inappropriate "coziness" between regulator and regulated when the dealing should be arms length.
Further, the failure to disclose the relationship is even more so concerning. The gov't should be considering actual law, instead of enforcing RIAA requested takedowns, and promoting extremely biased propaganda produced by a stakeholder.
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> government all the time.
It's the lack of any acknowledgement in the PSAs as to their true source that's the problem. Or do you think it's fine for the government to run industry propaganda without telling the people from whence it came?
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You can obfuscate all you want about the ownership of the message, it is the context and intent of the message that is relevant here.
NBC/U will create a message that suits their corporate strategy and reinforces their commercial and political advantages. Who's name is on the byline is irrelevant to this. Where it is relevant, is where that message is being taken by the third party to represent the good of the people, without acknowledging that it was written for the good of the corporation that wrote the original message.
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Secondly, you are conflating the industry economy with a singular entity's finances. One company's rise or fall may have some impact on the industry's, or NYC's, overall economy, but more likely someone else would rise to fill the void. Supporting one company at the expense of others does little to assist NYC's economy.
I'll freely admit that economics is not my forte, but I'm sure others here can go into more detail, or correct me if I'm wrong.
Finally, you are basing that entire comment on the assumption that piracy has a negative net effect on the industry (as opposed to NBC/U). That is an issue that is highly debatable, and has been furiously debated with compelling arguments on both sides. There is no debate as to whether tourism is advantageous for any city, NYC or elsewhere. There is considerably more questions as to the effect that piracy has, and I find it difficult to believe that it would dramatically affect NYC's overall economy. It does, however, affect NBC/U's finances.
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Because the pirates will suddenly start buying the stuff? Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
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consider the source of conflict
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Re: consider the source of conflict
Um. No offense, but that's ridiculous. I'm actually pretty familiar with folks at Santa Clara University School of Law, and it's not, at all, a diploma shop as you imply. There have been a ton of good lawyers that have come out of that program or who teach at that program. Lately, SCU has been hosting a number of excellent seminars and conferences on internet law issues, bringing in some top notch speakers as well.
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what a maroon
Your habitual insistance that the US govenrment is responsive to, or cares about "the will of the people" makes me wonder just how many times you 'accidently' fell as a child.
Follow the money, and you will see the truth.
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Re: what a maroon
If you don't like the current breed of crooks in government, run a campaign to become one of them yourself.
xanthian.
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"Secondly, you are conflating the industry economy with a singular entity's finances. One company's rise or fall may have some impact on the industry's, or NYC's, overall economy, but more likely someone else would rise to fill the void. Supporting one company at the expense of others does little to assist NYC's economy."
I don't really understand this. The spot targets infringing generally, not just NBC/U material. Did I miss something?
A motion picture brings buckets of money to a city. They rent hotel rooms, hire caterers, rent sound stages, rent vehicles, buy lumber for sets, rent and buy wardrobe and props, hire hundreds of people, subcontract out work to hundreds more. NBC/U produces in NYC as do all of the other studios. NYC is the major media market and messaging there has a potential for wider impact.
"Finally, you are basing that entire comment on the assumption that piracy has a negative net effect on the industry (as opposed to NBC/U). That is an issue that is highly debatable, and has been furiously debated with compelling arguments on both sides. There is no debate as to whether tourism is advantageous for any city, NYC or elsewhere. There is considerably more questions as to the effect that piracy has, and I find it difficult to believe that it would dramatically affect NYC's overall economy. It does, however, affect NBC/U's finances."
While there may be debate, there is no debate that both NYC and NBC/U believe that piracy harms their respective economic interests. So right or wrong, they view themselves in lockstep on the issue of piracy.
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Well, ICE works for Disney so there's that.
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Your outrage is justified, but I hope you're not actually surprised. The government may not run PSA's written by McDonalds, but who do you think writes the FDA and USDA guidelines and regulations? The food industry, in large part. It's true in every industry, from banking, to health-care, to food, to, yes, entertainment and copyright.
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good propaganda, bad economics
1) Who is affected by file sharing? Mostly Hollywood studios (hence NBC making this video). So they will be our object of analysis. Profits for the owners of the Hollywood studios might be cut into by piracy, but even that is ambiguous: ignore the # of downloads - and totally reject any calculation made by industry about their 'losses' - and look instead at the marginal effect of piracy on demand for Hollywood stuff: if the down-loader is unlikely to go to a movie anyway, then *no* revenue is lost... And lets also keep in mind here that the big entertainment industry has already been found guilty of collusion on the price of CDs (http://www.stereophile.com/news/10744/), and then been accused of doing the same on digital content too (http://www.stereophile.com/news/10744/), so it's not like these guys are victims. Actually, the consumer has been the victim here (that same mic boom operator is also a consumer of entertainment products, after all...)
2) Either way, clawing away at those profits likely will have no effect on the boom mic operator so manipulatively presented in the add; she is likely getting paid her marginal product (or so says classical economic theory), so even if the executives take home more or less money, she's basically the same...
3) ... unless the entire sector shrinks. But even if that is the case (fewer big Hollywood movies getting made) the effects are still ambiguous: filesharing (along with the internet and the digital camera) has democratized the sector, breaking the H monopoly, and this has *positive* effects for that boom mic operator, as a larger but less top-heavy sector may distribute resources more equitably: there are fewer barriers to entry, capital up front is less important therefore rewarded at a lower rate, and people with skills (like boom mic operators) are relatively speaking *better* remunerated. Indeed, as Hollywood makes consistently worse and worse product (partially because it is out of ideas, partially a lame attempt at 'cost recovery' from file sharing - what economists would call the General Equilibrium effect), a gap is being filled by TV stations, freelance folks, etc making quality product(or at least trying). All those people need boom-mic operators.
(Can we isolate the effect of piracy from the internet and digital camera issues? Not empirically, and so we have to rely on theory. Lets posit that the number of dollars spent on entertainment is generally constant (maybe a big assumption?); there is an exogenous shock (piracy) which hurts H, decreasing its market share as H makes worse products in response; those dollars flow into other sectors (like independent film) which consumers are willing to pay for because (a) they feel like it's art, not mass entertainment, and are willing to pay for it / are guilted into it?; 2) don't feel like this sector is, I dunno, gonna make propaganda and pass it off as PSA in order to capture more rents?; 3) it's harder to download them; 4) or they flow into online content, which is downloadable by definition, and merely embeds the adverts (Hulu model)?
4) People are consumers of an array of entertainment options; they aren't forced to watch movies. Hence if movies get to the point where they aren't worth the expense, people will migrate to other forms of entertainment. Punitive or aggressive cutting policing of piracy may have General Equilibrium effects that hurt the film industry; counter intuitively, the sector may actually *benefit* from file sharing: what if file-sharing actually *generates* demand for box office viewing, perhaps not for the person downloading, but indirectly through externalities created by the pirate and captured by the general sector: In other words, I download Die Hard IV, talk about what an amazing and silly movie it is on my hypothetical blog, and you read it, and the comments of the 50 other people who think it's a fun analysis (it will be, that much I can promise you), and then as a result of this being conversation worthy, and that you want to be a part of it, you go out and see it.
5) On a smaller scale, I have smart friends who have hustled their way through film and video production in NYC for the past decade or so, and their biggest desire seems to me to be to generate demand for their art. They have run the boom, and been behind the camera. They are dying for people to steal their stuff. In other words, the boom mic operator as presented in the PSA (as only a boom mic operator) may exist, but for the most part most of the folks involved in this sector are artists rather than wage 'workers' narrowly defined, and if we actually cared about the artists and the art, we would decouple the profit-stream side from it. So what would this look like? Lets imagine that all films were available for download for free, how would this change the structure of the business? First, there probably would be fewer Michael Bay movies. With apologies to the cast of the Rock, this in general is a sacrifice we could probably be willing to make, for the sake of not being subject to the generally shitty art that he and his ilk produce (and his might survive: there would still be demand to see his stuff on a big screen; same with the rom-com: dinner and a movie would acquire a price premium - becoming more expensive relative to what it is now when you could stay home and eat kraft macaroni - but as such it will probably survive). Cost recovery would take the form of advertising embedded in or around content. [This all deserves more discussion and thought than i can give it right now, but I think a better equilibrium would be found...]
6) So what the hell is city of NYC doing involved with this? Why did our guy have to FOIA them to get the truth? Weirdness. I doubt this is a purely economic argument: they might think that piracy generates revenues that are un-taxable, whereas movie theaters pay taxes? And that Nigerians sell the pirated copies and repatriate their dollars at high rates, rather than putting them back into the economy? Doubtful that this is considered. My only thought is that the city is embarrassed by so much fairly blatant flouting of the law, but it is not worth the resources expended and the opportunity cost to have policemen actually round up those selling DVDs on the street. Better to pursue a top-down 'behavior change' campaign to dampen demand, putting the pirates out of business naturally? I dunno.
Coda: what perhaps is most telling is that when I told my girlfriend that the "PSA" we watched this evening wasn't made by some benign agency of the government, but was actually owned by NBC, she said "Well, of course"... and her look, full of sweetness and sympathy, was as if to say, "silly boy, you actually think there's a difference? Between the state and corporate interests? Between propaganda and truth?"
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