The Best Press Money Can Buy
 

December 6 2005
Counterbias.com
Scott C. Smith
 

In the early 1960s, the recording industry was hit by the so-called “payola scandal.” This was the practice of record labels paying radio stations to promote certain artists. A bribe, in other words. Famed disc jockey Alan Freed became the face of payola in the 1960s, and in 1962 Freed pleaded guilty to two charges of commercial bribery.

Of course, the practice has continued in various forms over the years. And now, thanks to the Department of Defense, it has spread to Iraq. As the Los Angeles Times revealed on Nov. 30, U.S. military “information operations” troops wrote articles with a pro-war spin, and a defense contractor then translated the pieces into Arabic for use in Iraqi newspapers. According to the Times, the articles are presented by the Iraqi press as unbiased – or, if you want to put a Fox News spin on it – “fair and balanced” pieces written and reported by independent journalists.

The articles are factual, but only present one biased point of view.

Is this really necessary? We keep hearing from the Bush administration and right-wing pundits that the war in Iraq is going splendidly. Yet we have to resort to covert measures to get “positive” pieces planted into Iraq’s “free” press?

How ironic is it that our government is training Iraqi journalists in basic journalism skills and Western media ethics? Ripe with irony, I say. Or laughable. I’m not sure which yet. Here’s something laughable: according to the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. State Department is teaching a workshop for Iraqi journalists titled, “The Roll of Press in a Democratic Society.” Apparently that role involves cash.

It’s all just another cog in the great Bush administration propaganda wheel. You may recall the revelation that columnist Armstrong Williams had been paid $240,000 by the Department of Education to promote the No Child Left Behind act. Armstrong was dropped as a columnist from the Tribune Media Services. 

Another arm in the propaganda machine is the U.S.-backed Al Hura television network, which is supposed to be a competitor to Al-Jazeera by spreading positive news to the Arab world. Are they not beaming their signal into Iraq?

The White House is reportedly “very concerned” over the press payola revelation. That’s pretty funny. Why is it that the Bush administration acts like it knows nothing about what is going on in Iraq? Are they that much out of the loop? The whole concept of planting stories in Iraqi newspapers stinks of Karl Rove. Of course, Bush and his administration will play dumb over this issue. Until we discover a few months from now that they did know about it. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld doesn’t know? I find that hard to believe. On Nov. 27, Rumsfeld cited Iraq’s news media as one of the greatest successes since the ouster of Saddam Hussein. A great success that we’re funding.

The Los Angeles Times quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying, “Here we are trying to create the principles of democracy in Iraq. Every speech we give in that country is about democracy.And we're breaking all the first principles of democracy when we're doing it.” 

So much so that on Dec. 2, the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia, held a closed session to meet with Pentagon officials to discuss the program. In a statement, Warner said, “I am concerned about any actions which may erode the independence of the Iraqi media.”

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said that the Bush administration is "very concerned… we are seeking more information from the Pentagon.” Right hand; take a good look at what the left hand is doing.

Sen. Edward Kennedy echoed my own sentiments about the payola scheme in a statement, saying the program “speaks volumes about the president’s credibility gap. If Americans were truly welcomed in Iraq as liberators, we wouldn't have to doctor the news for the Iraqi people."

We’ll see how far up the chain of command this goes. Not that anyone at the top will take responsibility. The Bush administration isn’t exactly keen on the whole concept of accountability. Once again, the buck will stop somewhere other than where it should really go: Bush’s office.