propaganda, pure and simple

from Pacific News Service:

There can be no defense of syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams' disgraceful grab of public money from the Education Department to tout President Bush's No Child Left Behind law while posing as an objective journalist. But focusing on one man's ethics disaster misses the larger and more important story of the Bush administration's pattern of placing propaganda in U.S. news media.

Williams' contract was part of a $1 million Education Dept. deal with public relations giant Ketchum that produced 'video news releases' designed to look like news reports. Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services hired Ketchum to produce videos touting the administration's controversial Medicare plans, also disguised as news segments. Many stations aired the spots with no explanation to viewers that they were watching government propaganda. The Government Accounting Office called the use of taxpayer money for the project illegal, but did not require that the money be repaid.

If a journalist is caught with his or her hands in the government till, newspapers should do what the Tribune Media Services that distributes William's column did and dump him or her. Media outlets should do what CNN said they would do, and determine whether the journalists and commentators they use on their news shows are giving their honest views on issues or are bought and paid pitch men and women for government agencies. If they are they should dump them too.

We can only hope that this spurs the cable news nets to demand full disclosure of conflicts of interest from reporters, commentators and guests, like they do from financial analysts.

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