Fake News

It's sad how the only guy calling his stuff "fake news" (aka my favorite man on television) is sometimes sadly the only source of REAL news.

The military paid out Iraqi papers to publish stories that positively reflected on the U.S. efforts in Iraq. The Washington Post:

The U.S. military command in Baghdad acknowledged for the first time yesterday that it has paid Iraqi newspapers to carry positive news about U.S. efforts in Iraq, but officials characterized the payments as part of a legitimate campaign to counter insurgents' misinformation.

In a statement, the command said the program included efforts, "customary in Iraq," to purchase advertising and place clearly labeled opinion pieces in Iraqi newspapers. But the statement suggested that the "information operations" program may have veered into a gray area where government contractors paid to have articles placed in Iraqi newspapers without explaining that the material came from the U.S. military and that Iraqi journalists were paid to write positive accounts

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to the Defense Department's inspector general asking for an investigation into the program and the Lincoln Group contract. Kennedy called it "a devious scheme to place favorable propaganda in Iraqi newspapers."

Wow, sound familiar to anybody? From the Washington Post on January 8, 2005:

The Education Department paid commentator Armstrong Williams $241,000 to help promote President Bush's No Child Left Behind law on the air, an arrangement that Williams acknowledged yesterday involved "bad judgment" on his part.

In taking the money, funneled through the Ketchum Inc. public relations firm, Williams produced and aired a commercial on his syndicated television and radio shows featuring Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige, touted Bush's education policy, and urged other programs to interview Paige. He did not disclose the contract when talking about the law during cable television appearances or writing about it in his newspaper column.

We're doing such a thorough job of spreading American Democracy in Iraq that we've managed to replicate the same terrible leadership (George W. Bush for both countries), the same lack of planning (FEMA & Iraq Reconstruction), and now... the subjugation of the so-called "free press."

Senator John Warner (R-VA) is opening up an investigation in the Senate Armed Forces Committee on the issues, according to the New York Times.

The Armed Services chairman, Senator John W. Warner, said this afternoon that he remained "gravely concerned" over the disclosure that a Washington-based public relations firm working in Iraq had been hired to translate articles written by American troops into Arabic and, in many cases, give them to advertising agencies for placement in the Iraqi media.

Under the program, some friendly Iraqi journalists reportedly have also been given monthly stipends - a practice that Mr. Warner, a Virginia Republican, said could not be justified.

That "Washington-based public relations firm" is the Lincoln Group. They "are a strategic communications and public relations firm providing insight and influence in challenging and hostile environments." They had a press release titled "Truth in Reporting":

Lincoln Group has consistently worked with the Iraqi media to promote truthful reporting across Iraq. Our priority has always been, and continues to be, accuracy and timeliness. Our clients, our employees and the Iraqis who support this effort have maintained a commitment to battle terror with a powerful weapon - the truth. We counter the lies, intimidation, and pure evil of terror with factual stories that highlight the heroism and sacrifice of the Iraqi people and their struggle for freedom and security. We are encouraged by their sacrifice and proud to help them tell their side of the story.

All - of course - while funneling money to their reporters with a friendly "suggestion" that they write damn good things about the U.S. military efforts in Iraq.

That's it. I'm updating my "News" bookmark folder to include Jon Stewart (via Comedy Central).