Keeping a watchful eye on TV news

Re: “TV Health News Comes Up Short” [March 13]: Reporting that lemon juice can prevent HIV is outrageous and inexcusable. But the stakes are even higher than the misinformation delivered to individual consumers.

Broadcasters strike a serious bargain with the American public when they get their license. In exchange for using our airwaves to collect and keep vast sums of money, they agree to provide information in the public interest. That’s why we have news on television -- it’s how the broadcasters keep up their end of the deal.

This study is a call to the Federal Communications Commission to look more seriously at what stations are broadcasting on the news, and how they are broadcasting it, at each license review.

LORI DORFMAN

Director,

Berkeley Media Studies Group

UC Berkeley

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