U.S. Government

US Flag Banned in Iraq

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Today, the Army, seeking to demonstrate that its troops in Iraq are 'liberators' and not 'conquerors' barred any display of the American flag on vehicles, buildings, statues, and command posts. The order, which effectively halts the display of the flag virtually anywhere in Iraq, except the United States Embassy, said that flying the flag on buildings in Iraq would only reenforce the anti-American message that the military was 'here to oppress the Iraqis.' "

No
Main Source: 
New York Times, April 10, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
U.S. Government

Pentagon PR Star Torie Clarke Embeds the Press

Submitted by John Stauber on

Bill Berkowitz writes that "a relatively quick war against an overwhelmed and outmatched foe -- sanitized of civilian casualties -- has been a tonic for a Pentagon hungry for good publicity. ... Embedding reporters is the brainchild of Victoria 'Torie' Clarke, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Clarke brings considerable PR experience to the task of winning the spin war.

No
Main Source: 
WorkingForChange.com April 9, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
Ethics
U.S. Government

"It's The Policy, Stupid"

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"The front line in the war for hearts and minds in the Arab world and
beyond is here, at the U.S. Central Command headquarters and media
center," writes the New York Times' Nicholas Kristof from Doha, Qatar. Kristof gives the Bush administration credit for reaching out to the foreign press, noting that Al Jazeera was assigned a front row seat for press briefings while the Times was in the second row. But he suggests international journalists see through the spin.

No
Main Source: 
New York Times, April 8, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
International
Propaganda
U.S. Government

Dealing With The Truth

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"The Office of Global Communications, a controversial agency created by President Bush in January, has blossomed into a huge production company, issuing daily scripts on the Iraq war to U.S. spokesmen around the world, auditioning generals to give media briefings and booking administration stars on foreign news shows," the Chicago Tribune's Bob Kemper reports. "The communications office helps devise and coordinate each day's talking points on the war.

No
Main Source: 
Chicago Tribune, April 7, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

Pentagon Embeds Public Affairs Officers With Journalists

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"They may not get as much attention as their media counterparts, but dozens of Pentagon public affairs officers are 'embedded' right alongside the reporters in Iraq," PR Week reports. "The Pentagon also maintains the Coalition Press Information Center (CPIC) in Kuwait, a base of operations for public affairs officers not traveling with troops.

No
Main Source: 
PR Week, March 31, 2003; Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Propaganda's Diminishing Half-Life

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"In the good old days, the US used to tell a lie -- crass propaganda -- and it would stick for a long time. Journalists would have to scurry for months before they could expose the lies, but by then it would be almost irrelevant," writes London-based economist Paul de Rooij

No
Main Source: 
PalestineChronicle.com, April 1, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

Edelman Defends France's Sodexho From Congressional Attack

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"France's Sodexho Alliance is fending off Congressional bids to strip it of its $880 million food service contract with the U.S. Marines because of the French snub of President Bush's invasion of Iraq," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "Edelman is our corporate agency of record, and we use it for crisis work," Bonnie Goldstein, a PR staffer at Sodexho's North American headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., told O'Dwyer's. "Rep. Jack Kingman (R-Ga.) wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asking him to consider transferring the Marines contract to a U.S.-based firm.

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Iraq
Corporations
U.S. Government

General GOP

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"According to recent leaks from the Pentagon, Gen. Tommy Franks and other uniformed war planners argued with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over how many troops and how much armor to commit to the war," writes Lucian K. Truscott IV. "The soldiers wanted more of both," but "Rumsfeld was reportedly among the influential group on the administration war team who predicted that the Iraqi army would quickly fold after it had been shocked and awed. ...

No
Main Source: 
St. Louis Today, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
U.S. Government

An Army of Propaganda

Submitted by John Stauber on

"It's no coincidence that Americans, and others around the world, are echoing the exact same phrases and news bites at the same times with near-military precision. It's the result of a slickly orchestrated public relations campaign on the part of the military and the U.S. government that is borrowing the best practices of the corporate PR world. ... The PR industry, as many may know, was actually started by the military during World War I, when persuasive techniques were developed to recruit soldiers.

No
Main Source: 
AlterNet, March 31, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda
U.S. Government

Embedded Reporter Tactic "Sheer Genius"

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"The current war has been called the best-covered war in history, and certainly the visuals and reports from 'embedded' reporters have been spectacular, bringing war into our living rooms like never before," Katie Delahaye Paine writes in her PR firm's publication The Measurement Standard. "[T]he embedded reporter tactic is sheer genius. ... The sagacity of the tactic is that it is based on the basic tenet of public relations: It's all about relationships.

No
Main Source: 
The Measurement Standard, March 28, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
Public Relations
U.S. Government

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