The use of healthcare Video News Releases (VNR) is alive and well, but practitioners should avoid excessive product plugs and give broadcast journalists stories that will improve the lives of viewers.
More and more editors and producers say they will use well-produced VNRs to supplement their healthcare segments, acording to industry experts. KNBC/Los Angeles, for example, produces 22 health stories a week, seven of which are from VNRs, according to Dr. Bruce Hensel, the on-air health reporter for the station.
"VNRs have won their place in the repertoire of healthcare reporters, primarily because in today's healthier and physically fit world, TV viewers want to know the very latest news as it is breaking," said Hensel.
Newsrooms, he said, simply cannot produce enough story diversity to meet an audience's increasingly fickle demands, because there is neither the time nor monies available. Combined production and distribution costs for VNRs generally range between $5,000 and $40,000, depending on the nature and location of the shoot, and the distribution strategy.
Some VNRs Air Untouched
Many VNRs from unbiased sources, such as the American Medical Association (OTSP produces and distributes The Jama Report), make it to the air untouched.
Kathryn Metcalfe, VP-Product Communications at Noonan/Russo Communications, said the challenge VNRs pose to healthcare communicators is to find a compromise between appropriate publicity and outright promotion, particularly when a drug is in clinical trials.
Her firm is wary of using words such as "breakthrough" and "cure" because they are concepts that TV news people grab onto.
"We use words such as 'advance.' We stress that a drug is in trial and not yet available to the public," she said.
Metcalfe has met with FDA staffers to make sure her firm is in compliance with the promotion guidelines. "No one in this business wants to transgress the FDA," she said. "Meeting with FDA officials is the ideal way to find out what we could and could not do."
FDA officials encourage such interaction. Currently, it is reviewing its strict guidelines on the production and distribution of VNRs on healthcare topics.
All such VNRs have had to undergo FDA examination for the past five years.
Melissa Moncavage, spokesperson for the agency, said that VNR guidelines are being reviewed along with many other guidelines and rules of the Administration. A synopsis of the old guidelines along with the proposed changes should be distributed within the next three months.
Moncavage would not say when the FDA expects to wrap up its review process. The FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications is "still sending letters out on the matter," she said.
Every VNR produced for a pharmaceutical company goes through a rigorous legal and medical review process to ensure it is scientifically accurate, does not over-promise, and maintains fair balance between benefits and potential side effects of the medication.
Guidelines Are Needed
Steve Gold, managing director at Target Video News, a maker of healthcare VNRs, said though FDA rules are strict, there is a need for guidelines. Gold said if an advance in AIDS research is exaggerated, people may be led to believe a cure is around the corner. "This may result in an emotionally devastating situation for AIDS victims and their families and potentially disastrous legal problems for the healthcare company," he said.
As a rule, TV people said VNR firms should fax producers about the availability of a VNR. Also, while some TV people find pitch calls annoying, most said they would be willing to talk as long as it's quick and the timing is right.
Some distributors said it's best to feed stories by satellite, sending tapes only when they're requested. They point out that newsrooms are littered with expensive but unwanted tapes. But stations in small and medium markets say satellite time is limited, and they don't always have someone available to downlink a VNR.
(Target Video, 212/543-8921, Noonan/Russo, 212/781-2300)