WUSA charged D.C. for promos

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WUSA-TV (Channel 9) charged the D.C. government as much as $100,000 annually to promote breast cancer awareness during the TV station's newscasts, according to contracts The Washington Times has obtained.

For at least two years, from February 2002 to February 2004, news anchors at the Washington area's CBS affiliate were required under the contract with the city to encourage viewers to learn more about breast cancer by visiting the station's Web site. The reminders were designed to drive traffic to a banner ad on the Web site for the D.C. Department of Human Services, the contracts show.

WUSA also used one of its news anchors in commercials paid for by the D.C. government to promote literacy, according to the contracts, which The Times obtained through a Freedom of Information Act.

The announcements appeared to be helpful reminders from the anchors when, in fact, the city government was paying for publicity for one of its agencies without the station telling its viewers.

The deals between WUSA and the government violate two commonly held tenets of broadcast journalism: TV stations should not use their newscasts to advertise products and services, and news anchors should not appear in paid commercials.

WUSA is not alone. Other stations around the nation, including some of WUSA's competitors in the Washington area, for years have been engaged in deals that journalism ethicists call questionable.

The practice isn't limited to television. For years, media critics have pointed out unusual alliances between advertisers and newspapers and radio stations.

The broadcast arrangements soon could come under the Federal Communications Commission's scrutiny.

In August, the FCC announced plans to investigate the "pay-for-play" scandal that forced Sony BMG to pay $10 million to settle payola charges in New York. According to documents the state released after the settlement, Sony executives bribed radio station managers with expensive gifts to entice them to play songs by such performers as Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson.

FCC Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein, a Democrat, has urged the agency to expand the scope of that probe into hidden commercialism in TV news.