I've worked on a few.  Nothing unethical or integrity-challenging.  I don't think.  The ones I've done have been sponsored by some company or organization, and we provided unedited a and b-roll from their own projects to be used in news stories by stations that are either too cheap or resource-deprived to cover it themselves.  The content may be a convention, store opening, commercial event, performance, gala, etc.  

The idea is to give them enough info to produce a story, and put their branding on it, as if they got the story themselves.  Maybe that's what you're talking about, as far as ethics.  But, the concept isn't unique to broadcast journalism.

Many print and web articles are also nothing more than rebranded PR.  Do you think all product reviews are free from advertiser influence?  Show me a single industry that people on this list are a part of that is 100% free of child labor, tax avoidance, negative influence, carbon-free, doesn't use energy provided by dictatorial regimes, land-raping, and so on.  But, I digress.

The way I've done VNRs is to provide what they call "slates," or a full screen graphic for one second preceding any footage.  This provides the information the stations need to get the facts right, and provide their own supers.  The slates can be short because satellite time is precious, and no need to devote time enough to read them.  They have freeze-frame.

The slates contain any speakers' name and title, and any other information the company would like conveyed (like company history), properly spelled; and there's usually contact info at the end with a corporate PR person, email and 24/7 available cel phone, slated "For additional info, contact:"

Check with your client if they plan to uplink it, as there may be a maximum length in accord with their reserved satellite time.

On Aug 25, 2012, at 5:34 PM, Jonathan Penzner wrote:

Anyone on the list familiar with creating Video News Packages, ethics and integrity aside? I'm creating one that will be packaged as 1920 X 1080 and can be easily pulled in for standard Def D1.

Any tips or experiences anyone has are welcome, if you're feeling in a charitable mood over the weekend.

For example, is there a standard for how many seconds to make the slate, the time between the slate and the first image, etc? Just looking for any simple pointers to guide me on my way to hell.

Many thanks,

Jonathan