KPIX-5, CBS (TV Station)

KPIX-5 is a San Francisco, California television station and an affiliate of the CBS television network.

Station Owner
Viacom

Use of Video News Releases and/or Satellite Media Tours
In the 6pm news bulletin on January 27, 2006 the station broadcast an edited and re-voiced video news release (VNR) produced by MultiVu for Pfizer on a new inhalable insulin treatment, Exubera. The broadcast item was half original reporting and half VNR. 

Responses to "Fake TV News" Report
KPIX-5 spokesperson Akilah Monifah told the San Francisco Weekly that their airing of a Pfizer VNR "was clearly a mistake and a violation of our own policy and a violation of FCC rules." Monifah told SF Weekly that "KPIX rarely includes footage from VNRs in its stories ... and only makes exceptions when 'the footage is for background in a story, and it's footage that we did not possess.' Station policy is to attribute the source of that footage." 

On April 10, 2006, KPIX-5 vice-president of news Dan Rosenheim emailed in response to a viewer complaint, "A new reporter on our staff failed to attribute the source of this video, which was used in a story about a local company. This is a violation of long-standing CBS 5 policy, which requires that all out-sourced video be labeled as such. I apologize for this error."

Ironically, Rosenheim has told the San Francisco Chronicle the previous week, "We draw a strict line between news and sales, and we don't do product placement on our news." The Chronicle was reporting on another TV station, KRON-4, which had offered advertisers time in their news shows. 

Contact Details
KPIX-TV 855 Battery St. San Francisco, CA 94111 Phone (Switch): 415-362-5550 Fax: 415-765-8844 Web: http://cbs5.com

SourceWatch Resources

 * Audio news releases
 * B-Roll
 * Brand Hype
 * Branded Entertainment
 * Media releases
 * Satellite Media Tours
 * Radio Media Tours
 * Public Service Announcements
 * Video news releases: PR for California's Schwarzenegger administration