Have you heard? The economic crisis is solved. The health care reform bill passed and everyone is satisfied with it. There is no more violent crime anywhere. All the wars in the world have stopped, and our politicians are finally acting in our best interest. Everyone everywhere is happy; there is no news left to report. Or at least I assume that’s why news stations are airing advertisements disguised as news segments instead of real news.

The problem has nothing to do with slow news nights. Broadcasters are regularly accepting promotional segments designed to look like real news reports and airing them without identifying their source or sponsors in real news broadcasts.