I knew the Bush gang enjoyed getting taxpayers to finance their propaganda, but I don’t think I realized just how much.
Let’s see, Bush’s HHS used our money to create fake-news segments that were sent to news stations across the country to tout Bush’s Medicare scheme, which were later broadcast as if it were actual news. Shortly thereafter, Bush Education Department did the exact same thing. Bush’s Social Security Administration is using government resources to broadcast propaganda to anyone on hold with the agency. Bush’s Treasury Department has been used to create GOP talking points on John Kerry’s tax proposals. And all the while, the administration is paying “journalists” to turn their talk shows into partisan infomercials.
And now, we have yet another example.
Shortly before last year’s Super Bowl, local news stations across the country aired a story by Mike Morris describing plans for a new White House ad campaign on the dangers of drug abuse.
What viewers did not know was that Morris is not a journalist and his “report” was produced by the government, actions that constituted illegal “covert propaganda,” according to an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.
In the second ruling of its kind, the investigative arm of Congress this week scolded the Bush administration for distributing phony prepackaged news reports that include a “suggested live intro” for anchors to read, interviews with Washington officials and a closing that mimics a typical broadcast news sign off.
Although television stations knew the materials were produced by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, there was nothing in the two-minute, prepackaged reports that would indicate to viewers that they came from the government or that Morris, a former journalist, was working under contract for the government.
“You think you are getting a news story, but what you are getting is a paid announcement,” said Susan A. Poling, managing associate general counsel at the GAO. “What is objectionable about these is the fact the viewer has no idea their tax dollars are being used to write and produce this video segment.”
This isn’t just distasteful; it’s illegal to use our money to create government propaganda and then conceal that fact.
“It is illegal to use taxpayer dollars to influence public opinion surreptitiously,” [Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.)] said yesterday. “Unfortunately, this is the second time in less than a year that GAO has caught the Bush administration violating a fundamental principle of open government.”
I have a hunch it won’t be the last.