Thanks to PR Watch for noticing this Rocky Mountain News column bemoaning the self-serving promotion of network programming on local TV newscasts. You know, like when your ABC affiliate does a profile of a local woman who's on The Bachelor, and so forth. The column is well-written, but misdiagnoses the problem as one of disclosure:

I think ... journalists at local outlets should give their news judgment an extreme makeover and drop most entertainment news tie- ins. They're not newsworthy, unless you want your newscast to look like a prime-time show - which is clearly the trend, I know, but it still makes me ill.

In any case, if the local TV outlets insist on broadcasting "news" about entertainment programming, they should inform viewers when they have a financial interest in the success of the show mentioned.

That's not the issue; everyone watching these shows knows that the purpose is self-promotion.

In fact, most "stories" like this appear during the late news -- immediately after the network program has aired. Such stories are heavily promoted by the station, because the reality is that such coverage helps the ratings of the newscast -- not the other way around.

Which points to the real problem here: People are more interested in entertainment news than in news about what's going on in the world. And that's not the fault of local news stations; they have only reluctantly jumped on this bandwagon in a struggle to maintain market share.

So...let's get off their backs this time.