ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH EDITORIAL
In prime time, KSDK-TV was scheduled to air “A New Beginning: Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park.” Its subject, as the title suggests, was the popular Missouri state park that essentially was destroyed in December 2005 by a wall of water released by the catastrophic failure of AmerenUE’s Taum Sauk hydroelectric reservoir.
Because “A New Beginning” uses the presentation styles and techniques of television news, it looks like a news special. It is not. Because “A New Beginning” aired on a station that identifies itself as “Newschannel 5,” viewers might think that it was produced by the station’s news department. It was not. Because promos for “A New Beginning” promise to deliver “the full story” of the disaster, viewers might conclude that it tells them the full story of the disaster. It does not. Please click here to read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s editorial on this infomercial paid for by Ameren’s customers.
