Federal investigators have launched an investigation into whether the adverts were “propaganda”, amid allegations that they were an attempt to “manipulate the press”. In some of the features, there are pictures of Mr Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd as he signed the “Medicare” law. The packages were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, but news viewers would have no way of knowing they were watching a Government-produced story, rather than an independent news report. Bush Administration Accused of Manufacturing the News By Mark Sage, PA News, in New York The Bush Administration is being investigated for producing “ready made” television news packages in which actors were paid to pose as journalists, it emerged today. “TV news releases” were sent to local stations to be run as part of main news programmes. But Federal investigators have launched an investigation into whether the adverts were “propaganda”, amid allegations that they were an attempt to “manipulate the press”. The “news” packages praised a new law, signed by the president in December, which the White House has said will make it easier for elderly American’s to obtain prescribed medicines. In some of the features, there are pictures of Mr Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd as he signed the “Medicare” law. The packages were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, but news viewers would have no way of knowing they were watching a Government-produced story, rather than an independent news report. They have been screened in several states, including Oklahoma and Louisiana. Two of the videos end with the voice of a woman who says: “In Washington, I’m Karen Ryan reporting.” The production company, Home Front Communications, said “Karen Ryan” was hired to read a script prepared by the Government. Scripts were pre-written for news anchors. In one script the news reader is prompted to say: “In December, President Bush signed into law the first-ever prescription drug benefit for people with Medicare. “Since then, there have been a lot of questions about how the law will help older Americans and people with disabilities. “Reporter Karen Ryan helps sort through the details.” “Karen Ryan” then explains the benefits of the new law. In another video, a pharmacist is shown speaking to an elderly customer. They agree on camera that the new law is a “good idea” after the pharmacist explains that it “helps you better afford your medications”. The made-for-TV-news packages are now being investigated by the General Accounting Office – an arm of Congress. Under law federal money cannot be used for “publicity or propaganda purposes”, unless authorised by Congress. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the use of video news releases was “common”. “Anyone who has questions about this practice needs to do some research on modern public information tools,” he told the New York Times. But Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg called the video packages “disturbing”. “The distribution of these videos is a covert attempt to manipulate the press,” he said. And Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, told the newspaper that the Government-made “news” items were “the next thing to fraud”. “It’s running a paid advertisement in the heart of a news program,” he said. http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2652922
Way ahead of ya under, but it doesn't seem like anyone wants to play. http://bbs.clutchcity.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74562
Did Bush resurrect Goebbels and give him a postion in his administration? this is freaking scary this administration has no problem MAKING UP NEWS how can anyone trust a single word they say is beyond me
This from the current edition of Time... _________ Administration sources tell TIME that employees at the Department of Homeland Security have been asked to keep their eyes open for opportunities to pose the President in settings that might highlight the Administration's efforts to make the nation safer. The goal, they are being told, is to provide Bush with one homeland-security photo-op a month. http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,600858,00.html Now, slap me silly and call me Shirley, but I thought the purpose of Homeland Security was Homeland Security and not photo ops. I would hope the folks working in Homeland Security have more to do then look for photo-ops. Oh well... Iraq is to Terror as Photo ops are to Homeland Security... both are used to prop up the electoral chances of a failed President. (There's also a nice little line in the piece about poor Bar... The President's mother, in particular, is worried that she has seen this movie before. Says the official: "She does not want to see her family go through a '92 thing again." )
They never should have started calling this country a "Homeland". Sounds European or somethin'. Eastern European. Central European... it's a plot by all those cowardly pansies who... What was the topic?? Oh, yeah... raise tha Bar!! Use the truth! It's the "Department of Homeland Security and Presidential Re-election Advertising".
Why are you trying to distract us by posting info like this. Don't you know that Kerry said foriegn leaders support him not Bush. That's what we should really be talking about. Oh, Also I'm not sure that thread title is clear enough for Basso. He might accidently click on it and be exposed to information critical of Bush. I propose that all threads that might contain negative information about Bush start with Bush Is A Very Very Bad Man- That way Basso won't get confused.
That thread appears to be focused on the Medicare plan itself, while I wanted to discuss the propaganda techniques used by the Bush administration and the subsequent investigation. I see rimrocker posted some articles on the propaganda issue, but I was hoping to focus entirely on the misinformation and the federal investigation. If these threads are too closely related please lock.
Myabe it's just me, but it seems Kerry's next add could be the articles in this thread, and that would should about do it for him. We have Bush using the tax payers dollars to have Homeland Security create phot ops, pushing out faux news packages, etc. This is ridiculous.
Sigh. Pre-emptive strike via Counterspin... ____________________ GOP SLEAZE PATROL: Oh my God. Now they are saying that John kerry ignored a warning about lax security at Logan airport in 2001, which directly led to (ta! da!) the 9/11 attacks! Apparently, the author of this hit piece was just allowed to spew this nonsense on Fox News (of course). Apparently, Kerry forwarded some warnings about lax security to the Bush Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, where it got buried by the bureaucracy. The "whistelblowers," blame Kerry, of course, for not holding hearings or making a bigger stink. The Bush adminsitration, which obviously screwed the pooch and ignored the warnings, has no responsibility in their eyes. UPDATE: BUSTED! One of the "whistleblowers" who is the source of this attack, Brian Sullivan, said in an interview with NBC News on SPETEMBER 16, 2001: "Brian Sullivan, a former special agent for the Federal Aviation Administration. For 10 years Sullivan was responsible for checking out the security of FAA radar towers and air traffic control facilities. But after he retired from the FAA in January, he became concerned about the security at Logan International Airport in Boston, as well as other airports throughout the nation. [...] Mr. SULLIVAN: When we did this video report and it appeared on television, there was a natural reaction on behalf of the FAA and Mass. Port. Two weeks later after the dust settled, the people I was involved with went back and retested with basically the same result. [Chris] HANSEN: Besides helping the TV journalists, Sullivan says he expressed his concerns to the FAA administrator's hotline. He also says he sent this letter to Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a letter that now seems all too prophetic. Mr. SULLIVAN: With the concept of jihad, do you think it would be difficult for a determined terrorist to get on a plane and destroy himself and all of the passengers? Think for a moment how vital the air transportation industry is to our overall economic well being as a nation. Think what the result would be of a coordinated attack which took down several domestic flights on the same day. The problem is that with our current screening system this is more than possible. Given time, considering current threats, it is almost likely. HANSEN: Sullivan says Senator Kerry responded to his letter and asked the Department of Transportation's inspector general to look into the matter. Mr. SULLIVAN: I think Senator Kerry did get it to the right people and that they were about to take the right action." What prompted him to CHANGE HIS STORY?!? Here's what he's saying now: "[Kerry] just did the Pontius Pilate thing and passed the buck" on back through the federal bureaucracy, said Brian Sullivan, a retired FAA special agent from the Boston area who in May 2001 personally warned Kerry that Logan was ripe for a "jihad" suicide operation possibly involving "a coordinated attack."
