UPDATE: TV CHARITY DRIVES

The Federal Communications Commission has requested an investigation into television stations that solicit corporate sponsorship for charitable activities such as toy or food drives, reports The Washington Post. Jonathan Adelstein, an FCC Commissioner, said he was concerned by stations in the Washington metropolitan area that were accepting money for commercials promoting companies and charity drives, and then featuring those companies in the stations’ news coverage without disclosing the payments. He said such practices were shoddy journalism and potentially illegal. Darryll Green, president of WUSA, a Washington station, defended the practice as raising awareness and support for charitable organizations.