NEWSBREAKERS
When News Breaks, We Bust It.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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News Director Describes Video Leak As 'Unprecedented' and 'Intolerable'

(ROCHESTER, NY) - March 19, 2005 - A Rochester, New York news director has admonished his staff for an alleged leak of news video to the unorthodox media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS.

In an internal memo posted on a newsroom computer messaging system, the news director of local cablecaster R News described the presumed leak as an act of "thievery." The message is included below in its entirety.

Mar 18*Theft and unauthorized distribution. 

Someone in the building that knew a tape existed in-house, took a tape from an employee's desk, dubbed it and distributed it to Newsbreakers, who, in turn, edited three shots of R News video into a posting on the group's web site. The act of thievery is unprecedented and is obviously an intolerable offense. 

NEWSBREAKER Buck Owens could neither confirm nor deny the inclusion of the video in question in the group's most recent posting, Lights, Camera, Marshals, which is available at www.newsbreakers.org/video.htm.

"We get a lot of video in here from a lot of different sources," Owens said. "I'd have to go back and check our log books to see where a particular shot came from. As far as leaked information goes, I'm pretty sure leaks are common in the news business." 

R News is operated by Time Warner Cable, a division of media conglomerate Time Warner.

NEWSBREAKERS is a nonpartisan media watchdog group. It offers comment and critique on the role of television news in informing the public. The group relies on parody and non-traditional media interventions and transformations. Members of the group are rumored to work exclusively in the fast food industry.

The group is currently planning future events and accepting applications.

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