Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The U.S. Education Department paid $700,000 to the Ketchum public relations and marketing firm, to produce two video news releases and to rate newspaper coverage according to how favorably reporters described the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind law in 2003. Democratic Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Edward M.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The official report of the 9/11 Commission includes a pitch for a new "open-source intelligence agency," which would focus on developing government intelligence information from unrestricted, non-secret sources.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Alhurrah, the U.S.-funded Arabic-language TV channel, offers a more pro-U.S. version of the news than other Arabic channels but is having a hard time reaching many viewers because of the perception that it is American propaganda. Mouafac Harb, Alhurra's news director bristles at this claim. But as U.S. Rep. José E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) said at a hearing in April, that's exactly why Congress is funding it.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"The U.S. Department of State is taking another stab at putting private-sector marketing smarts to work for America and its image problem," reports PR Week. Mike Holtzman, a partner at the Brown Lloyd James PR firm, was hired "to help plot a new course for U.S.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The Education Department promoted the No Child Left Behind law with a video news release featuring "reporter" Karen Ryan.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Having "held the fewest solo news conferences of any president since records were kept" - 15 so far - may be hurting George Bush in the debates.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Feminist Majority Foundation has objected to the U.S. Department of State's decision to award part of a $10 million grant to an anti-feminist group, the Independent Women's Forum for "leadership training, democracy education and coalition building assistance" to women in Iraq. The IWF, which was created initially to defend Clarence Thomas against charges of sexual harassment during his U.S.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
The controversial head of an obscure agency in the White House is a "lightening rod" for criticism of Bush administration regulatory actions. John D. Graham runs the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and is "known as a stickler for the bottom line," the Seattle Times' Alex Fryer writes. "Through rigorous analysis, Graham wants to create 'smart' regulation that protects the environment at lower cost. But it is a process fraught with subjectivity.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Mixed messages, poor coordination and inadequately trained officials" are hampering America's overseas diplomacy, concludes the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Many ambassadors - "the primary messengers for policy goals in their host country" - "are uncomfortable serving as advocates in the media and in front of mass audiences." More than one-fifth of U.S.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Dozens of cases - including that of the chief Medicare actuary, who was threatened with dismissal "if he provided data to Congress showing the cost of the new Medicare law" - have motivated Congress "to increase protections for federal employees who expose fraud, waste and wrongdoing." But the U.S.
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