From the “nothing surprises me anymore” department:
The Bush Administration is being investigated for producing “ready made” television news packages in which actors were paid to pose as journalists, it emerged today.
“TV news releases” were sent to local stations to be run as part of main news programmes.
But Federal investigators have launched an investigation into whether the adverts were “propaganda”, amid allegations that they were an attempt to “manipulate the press”.
The “news” packages praised a new law, signed by the president in December, which the White House has said will make it easier for elderly American’s to obtain prescribed medicines.
The packages were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, but news viewers would have no way of knowing they were watching a Government-produced story, rather than an independent news report.
Two of the videos end with the voice of a woman who says: “In Washington, I’m Karen Ryan reporting.”
The production company, Home Front Communications, said “Karen Ryan” was hired to read a script prepared by the Government.
Scripts were pre-written for news anchors.
My cousin sent me a newspaper article on the continuing right wing complaints about groups such as moveon.org, who are buying commercial time to voice their opinions on the president. The right is sending letters to television outlets, telling them that they are in violation of campaign finance laws.
This story brings this issue into sharp relief: the right wing can afford to shoot down the free speech rights of the left wing because they themselves have no need for it. Why should they spend millions of dollars on campaign commercials when they control a wide section of the news media and radio pundit spectrum — and the parts they don’t control can be conned into airing bogus “news stories” that propagandize the Bush administration’s policies.
Yikes. How wrong. And stupid. (Also kind of makes me think of those “articles” in newspapers and magazines that on a quick glance *look* like news, but then you see the phrase “special advertising section.”)
I do agree with you that right wing radio does some campainging for the right, however they are really just preaching to the choir. More importantly you have to make it a point to listen to them.
Move on and the others in question push the left’s agenda in the middle of a ‘Friends’ episode. If it was a matter of me having to turn to ‘The Liberal Network’ or something to see their ads, well then it would be different.
Let’s put no masks on it, in a two party system these ads are nothing more than pro-Kerry campaign ads. If Kerry is really for the re-vamping of campaign fairness like he says then he should do the right thing and politely ask these orginizations to stop them. I’m sure Willie Horton would agree.
Still, Kerry’s probably got my vote by default and for the third election in a row, as the lesser of two evils.
Terry Kevin (http://terrykevin.blogspot.com/) posts an article from the Guardian (at http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1170534,00.html) which also talks about this story. Interesting that the American media still — as of March 25 — haven’t picked up on this.