This week on CounterSpin: Video news releases are one of the ways corporations and government agencies distribute their propaganda. That wouldn't be so bad on its own—except for the fact that those videos often show up on TV newscasts, where viewers are led to believe that these PR stunts are actually news reports. Just how widespread is this practice? We'll find out from Daniel Price, co-author of a new report about VNRs from the Center for Media & Democracy.

Also on the show: How is it that US reporters and editors are so confident and so nearly univocal in their disdain for protesting French students? It's because they've all signed up to the same belief system about the nature of the global economy and its demands. Our guest suggests viewers will need to go beyond the corporate press corps to really see what's going on, around the world and here at home. Jeff Faux is the founder and former president of the Economic Policy Institute, and author of a new book, The Global Class War.

Links:

—PR Watch

—The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future-and What It Will Take to Win It Back