Remember those prepackaged news stories — a k a Video News Releases (VNRs) --which Bush regime is so fond of distributing? Well, the Government Accountability Office today issued this decision by the Comptroller General. Here's the bad news:

Prepackaged news stories are complete, audio-video presentations that may be included in video news releases, or VNRs. They are intended to be indistinguishable from news segments broadcast to the public by independent television news organizations. To help accomplish this goal, these stories include actors or others hired to portray "reporters" and may be accompanied by suggested scripts that television news anchors can use to introduce the story during the broadcast. These practices allow prepackaged news stories to be broadcast, without alteration, as television news. [Bold faced added.]

That makes the airwaves safe again for all those TV news directors whose wrists were slapped for being too fond of broadcasting those VNRs as their own in the first place.