Is It News or Public Relations? Under Bush, Lines Are Blurry -NYT

[Rose Siding]

t is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets.

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public-relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.

Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 different federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.

.......much more........

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/13/politics/13covert.html?hp&ex=1110690000&en=13c49ccf73932e2e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[rodeodance]

1. or 'propaganda"--they should call a rose a rose!!

[UpInArms]

5. you beat me to it

call it by it real name - propaganda - bought and paid for by the taxpayers of this country to destroy this country.

:argh:

[BrendaStarr]

33. Lazy corporate news eats it up.

Some newspapers and TV stations (especially localized ones) only what to serve up what news drops in their lap.

This was happening in the 90s too really.

Most of zippergate was cooked up by Republicans between them, the court system (admitidly forced) and the independent prosecutor the news services were given precooked scandal.

It's just now reaching perfection.

And a right winger asked us today why the Democrats didn't have anything to say about Social Security.

And I told them they do--it's on Cspan, and in the Library of Congress records.

The news media would rather cover someone from the Bush administration than actually arrange to get some real information from the Congress.

That's why we have to take the news to people on the mixed message boards and chat rooms.

You can't believe how ignorant people are out there, and who would care except they are dragging you and I down with them.

We can work our butts off for the next year and 2/3rds and maybe get the Congress back (at least on chamber). But we can't do it always hiding in our liberal groups.

We need to be informed and that is why we need DU, but then we need to get out and teach others too.

[Demeter]

2. There Is NO News Anymore

It's all posturing, propaganda and pap.

[donco6]

3. I'm convinced that you are correct. eom

[Rose Siding]

7. This is a pretty good expose

Pg 6 relate how a FOX reporter was used in one of the govt videos and she wasn't even TOLD it was State dept piece. It's pretty bad when they even tick off Fox employees.

snip>
What the people of Memphis were not told, though, was that the interviews used by WHBQ were actually conducted by State Department contractors. The contractors also selected the quotes used from those interviews and filmed the footage that went with the narration. They also wrote the narration, much of which Ms. Clark repeated with only minor changes.

As it happens, the viewers of WHBQ were not the only ones in the dark.

Ms. Clark, now Tish Clark Dunning, said in an interview that she, too, had no idea the report originated at the State Department. "If that's true, I'm very shocked that anyone would false report on anything like that," she said.

How a television reporter in Memphis came to unwittingly narrate a segment by the State Department reveals much about the extent to which government-produced news accounts have seeped into the broader new media landscape.

[priller]

4. The lines aren't blurry at all

that's propaganda, plain and simple.

[MisterP]

18. maybe they mean it's hard to tell if the unrelentingly 24/7 pro-Bush

propaganda was conducted by the channel or by Washington. *Bangs head against keyboard*

[Pithy Cherub]

6. An investigation, accountability, fairness doctrine,

nevermind the m$m is incapable of doing its job, but will cash the checks their corporate and government masters deposit in their accounts.

Propaganda Prostitutes = Media 4 $ale on any position

[ausiedownunderground]

8. Whats the latest on Gannongate!! Democrats!!!

[bettyellen]

9. Our tax dollars go to this- and old ladies are going to be eating cat food

soon.
i want to see the video about how that's okay.
don't the broadcasters know where this crap is coming from? don't they care?

[0007]

27. ....or you kidding this is the kind of stuff that makes Americans

warm & fuzzy. The media knows what's going down, but a guy got to eat ya know!

[leQ]

10. will the post do a followup for their complicity?

or do they feel they don't have to?

[w4rma]

16. This is the NY Times, not Washington Post. (nt)

[MisterP]

19. well, remember that the NYT had to apologize for swallowing Chimpy's

WMD lies for--what, a year--without doing any research whatsoever.
On edit: Oh, I didn't know the other person said "Post."

[JoFerret]

30. At least it apologised

and followed up. that at least is to be thankful for.

[paineinthearse]

11. Could the kool-aid be wearing off and serious journalism awakening?

WP has a very similar piece, featured on DU home page - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1305157

So the NYT and WP on the same day feature the same thinking.....very interesting.

Could the kool-aid be wearing off and serious journalism awakening?

[genieroze]

14. Could the kool-aid be wearing off and serious journalism awakening?

Don't hold your breath, these people are corporate whores selling their integrity to the devil for a paycheck.

[liveoaktx]

23. Tomorrow starts "Sunshine Week" -journalists look at secrecy

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=110946

[Mari333]

12. A Pox on all the Major networks and sell outs in the media

who sat on their chickenshit hands and didnt do a stitch of real journalism for all these years. So many mediawhores it boggles the mind.
Truly the darkest days in US history.

[rodeodance]

13. "We're the 'good news' people," said Larry W. Gilliam, the unit's deputy d

e unit's deputy ..."

capo!!!!!

[Melodybe]

34. We don't need them anyway...

If Daily Show viewers are the most informed group of regular Americans, then obviously we don't need the corporate media cartel to understand what is going on.

Turn that shit off!

[leesa]

15. Figures that the NYT can't tell the difference.

[VegasWolf]

17. Bush constituents couldn't tell if something is a LIE if their crosses

depended on it.

[WatchWhatISay]

20. This is very disturbing

Can't someone introduce legislation requiring all such efforts to be identified as coming from the administration.

Even the cable stations have to reveal when their reporting involves a related (parent or sister) company.

The pharmaceutical industry also makes widespread use of this kind of propoganda.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

21. Exactly! "I'm George * and I approve this message"

This should be law!

[Rose Siding]

24. Arnold's been busted for the same thing in CA- says it's "high tech"

His lame excuse...

snip>
Governor Schwarzenegger Friday defended his use of taxpayer money for what critics are calling mock news reports.

The videos were distributed to television stations around the state, promoting Schwarzenegger's policies. Democrats and labor leaders have been critical of the tapes, saying they amount to campaign propaganda. But Schwarzenegger says they are just souped-up versions of a standard press release.

"It's the highest technology," Schwarzenegger said. "You edit it really well, and then you send it out. It's really done in a correct way, but some people are not used to it yet, it's so high tech."

http://www2.cbs5.com/localnews/local_story_070195337.html

[leftofthedial]

22. I thought this was unambiguously illegal

WTF?

[kskiska]

25. NYT: News or Public Relations? For Bush It's a Blur

It is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets.

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public-relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.

Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 different federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.

This winter, Washington has been roiled by revelations that a handful of columnists wrote in support of administration policies without disclosing they had accepted payments from the government. But the administration's efforts to generate positive news coverage have been considerably more pervasive than previously known. At the same time, records and interviews suggest widespread complicity or negligence by television stations, given industry ethics standards that discourage the broadcast of prepackaged news segments from any outside group without revealing the source.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/politics/13covert.html?hp&ex=1110690000&en=13c490d47a932e2e&ei=5059&partner=AOL

[MajorFlaw]

26. Recommended.

[despairing optimist]

28. This may be the beginning of a great awakening on the part of the MSM

They know they've been had, they see "journalists" bought off and writing puff pieces supporting the * administration's agenda, they are disgusted by the growing trend toward advertorials that blur the line between advertising and feature/news writing, and they're connecting the dots.

There are good people working in US journalism even when they seem nowhere to be found. They have to deal with their bosses, who may have their own motives for slanting stories, and with the suits (like the company attorneys, who read everything before it gets published to minimize the risk of lawsuits; and like the advertising people, who take pains to place ads away from stories that criticize particular advertisers). They walk through a minefield every time they write a story, and if they're successful, they get to portray a realistic version of events.

Too often these people get eclipsed by the climbers, the hangers-on, and the simply corrupt among their colleagues, and those are the people we tend to use to brand all of the MSM as whores, IMHO. Since at least the beginning of this year, and probably shortly after the electin, I've noticed a definite turn on the part of the MSM to be more skeptical of the administration's words, policies, and tactics, and this story is among the latest examples of that trend. At this point I want to see this story as a glimmer of light because I'm tired of cursing the darkness. And what I also find encouraging is the fact that the pattern of MSM reawakening is following that of the Watergate era, circa 1973, when the press began to turn against Nixon and crew. It didn't happen overnight then, and it won't now, but I believe that it IS starting to turn.

I made my living in the MSM for 20 years, and I know there's good and bad all over. Right now the good is starting to show, so rejoice and keep fighting so more of the good can come out.

[otohara]

29. Shame on Clinton For Starting This Shit

and shame on the TV stations for being such PA systems for government.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

35. LOL...what bull. I've been watching stuff like this since Ike was pres.

[The Witch]

31. VNRs are not new and PR is not evil

http://www.prsa.org/_Publications/magazines/0604spot1.asp

And trust me I don't want to defend these guys, but... this is not anything new. I really don't want to see PR firms vilified here. My PR firm does a lot of work for DHHS and all of it is good work. Thanks for taking it into consideration.

[distressedsister]

32. Mainstream Media Is A Wasteland

[AuntiBush]

36. All the TAX money spent on well-OIL-ed Propaganda

Could go into saving SSI! Yeah, if only Bushlivitz would keep his hands out of the Surplus cookie jar, w/no intentions of paying it back. Why should they.

Like my tag line says below, sadly, sadly so!

[AirAmFan]

37. DUNCECAPS that read 'US GOVT Propagandist' should be obligatory

headwear for on-the-payroll or for-hire Federal shills, whenever they appear in "video news releases". When GE or Halliburton or Lockheed is footing the bill, commentator duncecaps should carry labels reading "WARNING! Corporate stooge for ...". Stations that air bought-and-paid-for propaganda without the duncecaps should experience high risks of losing their licenses.

A bottom-of-the-screen "crawl" that says, "This is US Govt Propaganda....This is..." would not be sufficient. Stations would simply edit it out to gain "free" filler material for their ever-growing "newsholes"

[sally343434]

38. Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged News

It is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets.

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.

<snip>

This winter, Washington has been roiled by revelations that a handful of columnists wrote in support of administration policies without disclosing they had accepted payments from the government. But the administration's efforts to generate positive news coverage have been considerably more pervasive than previously known. At the same time, records and interviews suggest widespread complicity or negligence by television stations, given industry ethics standards that discourage the broadcast of prepackaged news segments from any outside group without revealing the source.

More:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/politics/13covert.html?hp&ex=1110690000&en=13c49ccf73932e2e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Clark2008]

39. Don't watch

Just don't.
The only news shows I watch on television are Keith Olbermann... and, ummm... that's it.
I also watch "The Daily Show" and SNL's news segment - they're more realistic than the faux news the other channels are spouting.
Maybe if the revenue sources dry up because their are crickets on the receiving end, television news will stop this sh*t.

[xxqqqzme]

41. U watch the same 'news' I do.

and I only watch 'countdown' cuz DUers recommended it.

[Clark2008]

44. Well, he does cover stuff other news shows won't, don't or screw up

when they do.
Keith gets all the sides - which is important.

And, the snark is nice, too. :)

[MrPrax]

40. Just Once...

I would love to see an American News Source that was ahead of the 'news cycle'

Just once...

[Straight Shooter]

42. You would think TV viewers would begin to catch on.

Really, no one in the Oval Office has ever enjoyed 100 percent support from U.S. citizens, not even the dirtbag Reagan or our own Big Dawg. Even with bush, once in a while someone slips through his fortress of paranoia and somehow the media airs it.

I know how gullible and/or stupid some people can be, but honestly, does bush's media handlers believe they can fool all the viewers all the time?

[dbt]

53. I believe they do!

Or at least they think they can fool a high enough percentage to make their efforts feasible. And with all the "news" networks so firmly, shamelessly in the pocket of the regime, bu$hler's handlers are having a much easier job of selling than did Reagan's (for example).

[VegasWolf]

43. The average person is stupid. Would you want an average IQ, job,

education, salary, or lifestyle. These are the common people that
are the "average" voters. By definition, no one should want to be average.

[DeepModem Mom]

45. Take a look at this graphic that accompanied the article --

[UpInArms]

49. great post DeepModem Mom!

thanks!

[spanone]

46. Fuck baseball, this is what Congress should be investigating.

[bobthedrummer]

47. I live in a nation where mind control is heavily in use and in denial.

This is part of Bush's announced "perception management" program:scared:

[leftchick]

48. this is the one that just kills me....

Everyone on DU knows this was a US Military setup/operation. WTF is wrong with ameriKans? They believe every fucking LIE bushco** tells.

[dbt]

54. The Fatal Assumption: "It's on The News, so it must be true."

And the Fatal Corollary: "If it's important, it will be on The News."

[Malva Zebrina]

50. Ain't it grand? Thanks for posting the graphics.

I posted this in the editorials, but failed to notice it was a dupe there, so I would like to post it here as it may be locked. This NYT article is an excellent report, imo and it really ticked me off.


Is it any wonder that the people in this country believe the most incredible things about George Bush that are, at best, just plain made up?

Is it any wonder that the fact that a president lied to his people,multiple times to justify the invasion a defenseless country, killed and murdered an estimated 100,000 innocent people, half of whom were women and children and it appears to have simply gone the way of the silent movie?

It is not surprising that dead American warriors arrive in the middle of night at Dover AFB and that thousands of wounded and maimed are unloaded in the dead of night there also. No wonder at all that photographers are not allowed, under threat of punishment, to take a single shot of these fallen warriors, their flag draped caskets, their missing legs and arms, their blindness, their vacant expressions.. It is not part of the script in this three act play produced by the PR team. It cannot be faked much so I suspect these clever propagandists have decided that it is best hidden.

Why be surprised at the violence in this country? Hell I don't even know if the reports of violence are true or not. It's origin is not in the video games, or in the entertainment media. It's in the way that the great tide of the fake world is accepted and has pervaded our national consciousness. In a world where practically everything is a three act extravaganza production, some poor stage hand computes that it is OK to kill someone for a slight disagreement, or for a perceived slur, because it is all a made up world anyhow and the most important thing is to learn to lie like a Bush pro,--you know, -- work it like a public relations problem, and it will all be forgotten, like in a year or so. Like the silent movie.

I suspect that a lot of people know this deep down, but willingly suspend disbelief and accept it as the world in which we live--a fake world, but, shrug, so what?

Fake news, masquerading as real genuine and bonofide news, put out by the Bush government and was to some extent by the Clinton government also. The well oiled , well funded pubilc relations team, in their quest for making a lot of money, also shrug it off, take no responsibility for the fake news and blame it on someone else. It is all accepted policy to try to fool the people,and they know the best ways to do it because after all, they make a lot of money doing it and that deserves respect -- don't it?

. I may have changed my mind about the stupidity of the people who voted for Bush, and wonder if it is fair to put the blame on simple minded people for their belief in Bush as a great leader, for the love America, we are the greatest, America love it or leave it, flag waving mesmerized screen watchers for their pathetic vulnerabililty to a scam.

The fake world is the real world. One in which the goal seems to be to make a lot of money, and throw away any reflection upon the ethics of one's actions. Sell the fake world--sell your soul in the process but nevermind --

An unexamined life is not worth living--(poor old dude -- so naive)--of course it is and there is proof in the mansions, the wealth, the power, the fame, all which gathers to one's bosom the sought after "respect"

Fake skin, fake eyes, fake breasts, fake lips--all a part of the fake world that has been accepted as the real world. Perhaps it is. Perhaps I have just failed to set my sails right, or my boat is too old to keep up with the real armada.

It is brilliant propaganda. It has been successful, and it goes unfettered.

"Everybody does it" as the fake reporter said in this piece.

[etherealtruth]

57. Well said...

It is brilliant and it is successful. It is also leading us to a reality that I don't want.

[brentspeak]

51. I really wish the Dems would stand up in Congress and protest this

missuse of taxpayer money. The message that Bush is puffed-up by his own propaganda pieces with our hard-earned dough just isn't getting out there.

[Broadslidin]

52. Could "BBC World News" Be The Last News Service To Be Trusted?

It is in my estimation.

[etherealtruth]

58. I think you are right!

[redsoxliberal]

55. Just was reading this with breakfast

this story better get the airtime it deserves!

[davsand]

56. Nice to find my local media highlighted as whores for the regime...

I've always hated WCIA (called them GOP whores) along with the local newspaper The News Gazette. They are owned by the same people and the Republican slant is legendary in the community, especially when it comes to the newspaper.

I stopped watching WCIA several years ago when we had a huge tornado system move thru our area. Less than a half mile from my house a subdivision was hit by this tornado and left with damage. A few miles further east an entire town was flattened (Ogden, IL for those who want to Google it. Most of the houses in the town were damaged or totally destroyed.)

WCIA had coverage of a tornado in Decatur--about 60 miles away...

Our local newspaper is openly Republican to the point that they endorse in elections based on what the local GOP wants. This last election was a classic example when the local GOP wanted to try and regain control of our County Board. In every case, they endorsed a candidate that was not a Democrat.

The News Gazette went right down the line endorsing GOP candidates until they got to a race where the GOP had none. In that race they endorsed a Green over a multi term Dem with an excellent service and attendance record.

Is it any wonder that I go online for my news? WCIA is our local CBS affiliate. The ABC affiliate is a Sinclair station under the call letters WICD, and our local newspaper is a GOP rag.


Laura

[liveoaktx]

59. Project suggestion: Tracking the news segments for a month

I don't watch the news at all on television any more but am ready to do it for a month as a project to drill down specifically into the segments, regardless of where they come from. I intend to keep track of what played, what reporter did it, whether it was noted where the segment came from or perhaps, what company has a stake in it. I also intend to follow up with the station to ask where it came from. I don't know if FOIA applies to broadcast stations, it seems as if it should, since stations are using public airwaves, but if so, intend to ask for written documents about where these segments come from.

It isn't merely that Bush's government is spewing out propaganda in the form of news pieces, it's that other companies and lobbyists using pr companies are doing it, too (ala "Toxic Sludge is Good for You" prwatch).

[Ruffhowse]

60. Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged Television News

By DAVID BARSTOW and ROBIN STEIN

Published: March 13, 2005


t is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets.

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.

Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.

This winter, Washington has been roiled by revelations that a handful of columnists wrote in support of administration policies without disclosing they had accepted payments from the government. But the administration's efforts to generate positive news coverage have been considerably more pervasive than previously known. At the same time, records and interviews suggest widespread complicity or negligence by television stations, given industry ethics standards that discourage the broadcast of prepackaged news segments from any outside group without revealing the source.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/politics/13covert.html?ex=1111294800&en=e6236a32dce24b7c&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY
___________________________________________

Pure propaganda by the Evil Bush Empire. We have become what we fought against in the Soviet Union. Ironic.

[mhr]

61. Reagan Said "Trust, But Verify" - With Bush, I Say "Distrust, But Verify"

eom

[AuntiBush]

62. Turn HIM OFF! Tell others NOT TO WATCH!

A very important Doctor, known for his wit, intelligence and remarkable keeness to things going on said recently, "No, those people following his every step, his every word like it's the gospel truth are not crazy, they're too stupid to be crazy!"

Sadly, he just might be right.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

63. just google one newspaper story line to realize it..Operation Mockingbird

every newspaper across the nation in every city has verbadum the same story..VERBADUM!
it is ALL CIA Media Manipulation... there are NO real reprters anywhere in America! they areb all INFOTAINERS and canned journalists....can you say "Operation Mockingbird"???
www.whatreallyhappened.com


Operation Mockingbird: CIA Media Manipulation By Mary Louise The CIA's secret activities, covert missions, connections and control of MSM
www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_ louise_01_03_03_mockingbird.html

a dear friend of mine who is a 2 time emmy winning film editor
and who works for PBS just told me last week that "they(OM's) are in complete conmtrol, even of PBS. they are in every department lurking, watching ready to pounce and everyone knows who they are. is very intimadating. you can simply spot them by their attire, wearing their yellow ties, tasseled loafers and flag lapel pins they all look alike." :scared:

[Demeter]

64. It's PROPAGANDA!

For all our sakes, call a spade a spade!

[primavera]

65. Hell, that's just the free market at work

Efforts to cut the cost of journalism by their corporate overlords have resulted in such minimalistic staffing that journalists now have to write a story every single day, with little or no staff research support. Since there's only so many hours in a day and there's no way for a journalist to become expert at any topic in such a short period of time, they go begging for stock maerial and canned film footage from the people they're doing the reporting on. Nowadays, every agency and company has its own supply of canned press materials they pass out whenever a journalist comes looking for it, specifically prepared so as to invite the journalist to simply cut and paste into their own article. And, sadly, much appreciated it is by many journalists. Surprise, surprise, the coverage is consequently very one-sided.

It doesn't even necessarily reflect a political bend on the part of the reporting journalist, often it's just a matter of having way, way too little time to doing any actual reporting and so being forced to use propaganda materials.

[smoogatz]

66. It's not "pre-packaged news." Call it by its true name: propaganda

What's happening in the US is a full frontal assault on freedom of the press and the First Amendment. Instead of jailing dissenting reporters, they're co-opting or setting them up, one by one, and seeing that they're replaced by good, obedient marionettes like Brian Williams. Hitler did it. Mussolini did it. Stalin did it--but their approach was ham-fisted and obvious. Bush/Rove and their corporate cronies in big media have a slightly more subtle, but highly effective approach. Between this and E-voting, it's hard not to despair for the future of democracy in America.

[dalloway]

67. THIS NEEDS TO BE ON THE FRONT PAGE

Kick it by recommending for Greatest Page.

This is one of the most important print stories to hit in a LONG TIME.

[AirAmFan]

68. DUNCECAPS that read, 'US Govt Propagandist', should be made obligatory

for on-the-payroll or for-hire Federal shills when they appear in "video news releases". When GE or Halliburton or Lockheed is footing the bill, commentator duncecaps should carry labels reading "WARNING! Corporate stooge for ...". Stations that air bought-and-paid-for propaganda without the duncecaps should experience high risks of losing their licenses.

A bottom-of-the-screen "crawl" that says, "This is US Govt Propaganda....This is..." would not be sufficient. Stations would simply edit it out to gain "free" filler material for their ever-growing "newsholes"

[Zorra]

69. Never before in our history have these immortal words been so relevant:

Frank Zappa - I'm The Slime

I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin' out
From your TV set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

That's right, folks..
Don't touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin'room floor

I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go

(This song is something like 30 years old - Please, Kill Your Television!)

[Name removed]

70. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DeepModem Mom]

71. kick

[redsoxliberal]

72. my telescreen says the war in Iraq has been a sucess!

:eyes:

[Rex]

73. It's called propaganda and is illegal if funded by the govt.

Of course that doesn't mean a thing to the corporate media whores!

[redsoxliberal]

74. yes. This better catch hold.

[bettyellen]

75. kick for my favorite front page in a while........

[bettyellen]

76. .

[tom_paine]

77. Why do I have the feeling there is still MORE to this story?

I STILL think we haven't even sctracthed the surface here.

Of course the NEXT level of corruption is likely involving t CIA and Psyops Mockingbird Ops, undoubtedly revived and increased since Free America died.

But THAT won't come out, I think, no matter how long we wait. If an investigation was tried, people would be fired or worse they would "commit suicide" Bush-style.

[redsoxliberal]

78. kick