1/13/05

Lack of Integrity II

I take back what I said about not much press.
The Armstrong Williams "scandal" is all over daypop:

  • USATODAY.com - White House paid commentator to promote law
  • CNN.com - Feds paid pundit to push Bush policy - Jan 7, 2005
  • Administration Paid Commentator (washingtonpost.com)


In addition to that, there's more evidence of the Whitehouse's Department of Propaganda:

In the second ruling of its kind, the investigative arm of Congress this week scolded the Bush administration for distributing phony prepackaged news reports that include a "suggested live intro" for anchors to read, interviews with Washington officials and a closing that mimics a typical broadcast news sign off.

Although television stations knew the materials were produced by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, there was nothing in the two-minute, prepackaged reports that would indicate to viewers that they came from the government or that Morris, a former journalist, was working under contract for the government.

"You think you are getting a news story, but what you are getting is a paid announcement," said Susan A. Poling, managing associate general counsel at the GAO. "What is objectionable about these is the fact the viewer has no idea their tax dollars are being used to write and produce this video segment."

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