Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT Year 4 - 2005
Is U.S. Ministry of Propaganda Next? by Mike Berry 
Is U.S. Ministry of Propaganda Next? Commentary by Mike Berry March 4, 2005 The Bush-Cheney administration has done its share of the sort of "acceptable" press manipulation found in most past presidential administrations, spinning and misleading in ways we have all come to expect. But the Bush-Cheney administration has also gone several steps further in its effort to deceive the public. This administration's approach has been to either pay off journalists or to create its own media world composed of right-wing shills. Early 2004 found TV stations nationwide running a "news" video by "reporter" Karen Ryan, hacking the glories of the administration's bloated Medicare plan, a plan giving away more to Bush-Cheney contributors in the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries than to Medicare recipients. The video failed to mention that it was produced by the Bush-Cheney government's own Department of Health and Human Services. It is needless to say that this is not the first presidential administration to produce news broadcasts extolling its own policies. Governments around the world - Putin's Russia, North Korea, China, Afghanistan, Cuba, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and others--have also been involved in this unsavory activity, but where those undemocratic governments are concerned the practice is correctly identified as "misleading propaganda." Furthermore, the Bush-Cheney administration has not been content merely to make up its own bogus news. It has paid off ostensibly legitimate opinion makers who were trusted by many to be truthful in their dissemination of crucial information to the public. As example, earlier this year, it was revealed that agencies connected to the executive branch paid columnists--with taxpayer money--to adopt certain favorable stances on selected issues the Rush-Cheney administration was pushing. The Department of Education paid right-wing radio commentator Armstrong Williams almost a quarter of a million dollars to hype the so-called No Child Left Behind bill. By the same token, right-wing columnists Maggie Gallagher and Michael Mcmanus got a total of $100,000 in combined payoffs from Health and Human Services, Justice and the White House to advance the Bush-Cheney agenda. And bear in mind that these few examples of media figures being corrupted and compromised are only the cases thus far exposed--the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. None of the columnists and journalists involved in this scam against the public trust revealed the unethical and corrupt payoffs they received until after the wrongdoing had been brought to light, thereby illuminating their--and their paymasters'--total lack of regard for the canons of ethics legitimate journalists follow to guarantee unswerving veracity and fidelity to the truth. And by using filthy lucre rather than the truth to make its case, the Bush-Cheney administration strongly suggests to all objective observers that its policies are bankrupt on their face. Why else would such underhanded methods be employed? But even having journalists in outside news organizations on their payroll was not enough for the Bush-Cheney White House. A republican activist decided to carry their scheme of disinformation even further by creating an in-house ringer. The activist through his website GOPUSA.com and subsequently Talon News employed the services of one James Guckert, alias "Jeff Gannon," to put a Bush-friendly face in the White House briefing room. Guckert/Gannon, whose most notable previous experience allegedly included working as a male homosexual prostitute through the Internet, was employed to play the part of a journalist during White House news briefings. Gannon/Guckert accomplished the task within the White House press corps of helping to throw off and forestall any tough questioning by legitimate journalists. Beginning in 2003, at a time when the Bush-Cheney administration was being asked uncomfortable and pointed questions about its unpopular policies, Guckert/Gannon started appearing during news conferences asking blatantly pro-GOP questions. Normally, in order to receive a White House press hard pass, one must undergo a lengthy background check that often takes many months to complete. But Guckert/Gannon through the use of a daily pass was already asking questions of former press secretary Ari Fleischer on February 28, 2003, even before the White House (or its confederates) had created the bogus Internet operation known as Talon News, which Guckert/Gannon listed as his employer. What is even more outrageous is that Guckert/Gannon--whose only experience as a journalist seemed to be working for the bogus Talon News organization - allegedly received a leaked memo revealing that Valerie Plame was an undercover CIA agent. This leak was not merely an ethical violation on the part of the Bush-Cheney administration; it was an extremely serious felony offense and an affront to the United States Constitution, the Constitution Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney swore to protect and uphold. While it is not generally helpful or productive to compare our government in Washington to dictatorial governments in other countries, the misconduct on the part of our executive branch makes it difficult to keep visions of a certain European government's propaganda ministry (during the period of America's Greatest Generation) from intruding on the thoughts of those of us aware of the problem. Mike Berry is retired and living with minor feelings of discomfiture in the ultra red state of Texas. He seeks to help inform the electorate that our system works to the advantage of all citizens only when government is not dominated by business (fascism) and business is not dominated by government (communism). |