Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Former White House counselor and Bush campaign advisor Karen Hughes "will take over the Bush administration's troubled public diplomacy effort intended to burnish the U.S.
The Center for Media and Democracy is working with Free Press to gather a quarter million signatures on our petition mobilizing the American public to fight fake news and government propaganda. On Sunday, the New York Times reported that at least 20 federal agencies have made and distributed pre-packaged, ready-to-serve television news segments to promote President Bush's policies and initiatives. Congress' Government Accountability Office determined that these "video news releases" were illegal "covert propaganda" and told federal agencies to stop. But last Friday, the White House ordered all agencies to disregard Congress' directive. The Bush administration is using hundreds of millions of your tax dollars to manipulate public opinion. Here's how to stop them.
In some ways, Armstrong Williams got a bad rap.
The conservative Black commentator, who was paid $240,000 by the U.S. Department of Education to advertise and advocate for the controversial "No Child Left Behind" law, lost his syndicated newspaper column and was pilloried for not disclosing the payment.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Doug Ireland notes that, due to a legal decision, the Federal Election Commission is beginning to extend the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 to the Internet.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Under the draconian conditions of the USA Patriot Act," reports the Guardian, "the FBI can use covert surveillance of 'terrorists' without the necessity of getting a judicial warrant." Last year, the FBI identified "animal rights extremists and eco-terrorism" as "a domestic terrorism investigative priority," concerning even mainstream environmental groups.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"The Department of Homeland Security has tapped Ogilvy PR to provide real journalists for its biennial mock terrorist exercise," reports PR Week. (An earlier Spin noted the TOPOFF 3 exercise.) Ogilvy "will pick six journalists to cover the simulated attack," for what DHS is calling the Virtual News Network.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
More than 4,000 pages of "documents relating to the communications strategy of the Social Security Administration," reveal that the SSA "has markedly changed its communications to the public over the last four years," reports the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Along with doubling spending on external PR contracts, the Bush administration has increased PR positions inside government agencies, called public affairs. Public affairs staffs grew by 9 percent since 2000, "even faster than the federal work force," for a cost increase of more than $50 million.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Noting that the U.S.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The U.S.
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