"Stop Fake News" web site (via TPM)

[swag]

http://www.stopfakenews.org

A starter site for would-be media activists to get going against the Bush team's illegal propaganda efforts (with corporate complicity, of course). Excerpts from the homepage:

What are government-funded fake newscasts?
Under President Bush, at least 20 different federal agencies have produced "prepackaged, ready-to-serve" reports that are distributed to hundreds of television stations, such as Fox 13 in Memphis, TN or WCIA 3 in Champaign, IL. These reports are often broadcast on television news programs without disclosing that the segments are produced and paid for by the US federal government.
Source: The New York Times, 3/13/2005, "Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged News".

How much public money has the Bush administration spent on this propaganda programming?
The investigation by The New York Times showed that the Bush administration has spend unprecedented sums of money on these fake news programs and has already paid PR firms more than $254 million to create this programming.
Source: The New York Times, 3/13/2005, "Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged News".

What does the independent Government Accountability Office (G.A.O.) say about these government-produced fake news segments?
In three separate reports, the G.A.O. has criticized the Bush administration's government-made "news" programs. The GAO has concluded that these reports may constitute "covert propaganda." The GAO concluded that Bush administration agencies "designed and executed" these reports "to be indistinguishable from news stories produced by the private sector television news organizations."
Source: The New York Times, 3/13/2005, "Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged News"; The Washington Post, 1/9/2005, "Drug Control Office Faulted For Issuing Fake News Tapes".

Is it legal for the Bush administration to use taxpayer money to advocate for its political agenda?
No. Many of the fake news segments produced and disseminated by the Bush administration violate laws that prohibit the government from using taxpayer dollars for political lobbying activities. The GAO has concluded that a number of Bush administration television segments misused public funds and "violated the publicity or propaganda prohibitions."
Source: Government Accountability Office, 1/4/05, "Office of National Drug Control Policy--Video News Release, B-303495" (citing 31 U.S.C. 1341 and Pub. L. No. 108-199).

Is it legal for television stations to air these fake news reports?
No. If television stations air programs that are paid for by the federal government, the stations must disclose that information at the time they air the program. The GAO reports indicate that a great number of stations aired these programs did not disclose that they were produced and paid for by the government. Moreover, the FCC has already concluded that "listeners and viewers are entitled to know by whom they are being persuaded." This failure disclose the source of the programming violates federal including the Radio Act and Section 317 of the Communications Act.
Source: FCC, 12/22/2000, "Enforcement Letter" (citing the Radio Act and 47 U.S.C. 317); FCC, "Payola and Sponsorship Identification" (citing 47 U.S.C. 317).

[kevinmc]

1. Thanks For Posting This

[Up2Late]

2. I'd like to encourage folks to visit this site also,

It is part of the Freepress. net website, which is linked below.

<http://www.freepress.net/action/callcongress.php?a=nopayola>

[swag]

3. Oh, very good. Will do.

With stenographic reporting (e.g. New York Times et al. in run-up to the war) on the one hand, and this propagandizing of the "news" on the other hand, Democracy won't stand a chance unless we fight for it now.

Great link.

[FloridaPat]

4. It's all been fake news. Just because this comes directly from the gov

instead of through unnamed sources doesn't mean it's worse than all the other crap we get on the news media. This happens to be illegal.

Also illegal was taking money from the Afghanistan invasion and using it to plot the invasion of Iraq. That must be sitting in the same file with the Plume case and everything else illegal these jerks have done since they got into office.

And to think the repubs were upset about Travelgate with the Clintons. These guys are giving the word hypocrisy a new meaning.

[paineinthearse]

5. But I love fake news.....

John Stewart style.

He's the only one to lable it such.



:yourock:

p.s. I second the "greatest" nomination.

[checks-n-balances]

6. The Daily Show has less "fake news" than the gov't propaganda that this

article is about.

Ironic, isn't it?!

[FreedomAngel82]

8. I think it's pathetic

That the only real journalist is a "fake" one. Quite sad isn't it?

[FreedomAngel82]

7. Thank you!

I signed and showed my outrage my parents and family members and friends and just fellow Americans are paying for this b.s. Imagine if this was in a democratic presdient's reign. :argh: Also this proves that Bush can't do crap without all the fakeness. Fear and propoganda. That's all they know how to do things!

[swag]

9. Good for you, Angel

Share and enjoy.

[liveoaktx]

10. Broadening out- Pentagon Channel and PR News in general

If you're going to be calling your local stations as well as the networks, be sure to add that you'd like ALL manufactured news items to be identified as to source. (See "Toxic Sludge is Good for you")Besides the government crap, clearly illegal, is a raft of PR releases shipped out to stations in the guise of easy news pieces that the reporters can either add bookend or edit to personalize it. Just as often, there's some entity behind that PR piece with an axe to grind. I think ANY news items not created in their entirety by the stations need to have identifiers as to where they came from.

And on the Pentagon Channel-while it might not be *covert* propaganda, having our tax money pay for news pieces that put the sunny side up on the military AND SHOWN TO AMERICANS is a misuse. Ask your cable channel, if they're carrying it, to stop.

[K8-EEE]

11. Thanks swag -- You're the SWAGGIEST!

Who loves ya! I'm bookmarking this one for sure.

[swag]

12. Oh, K8-EEE

high praise indeed (of which I'm not worthy) from a Buscho Resister of your caliber. Nevertheless, I'm plucked, stymied, tongue-tied, and red-faced. "LA Woman, give up your vowels." Would giving up your vowels make you an "L Woman?"

As an attempted value-add, here's another link to today's New York Times article

"Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News"

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/politics/13covert.html

excerpt:

. . .
Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.

This winter, Washington has been roiled by revelations that a handful of columnists wrote in support of administration policies without disclosing they had accepted payments from the government. But the administration's efforts to generate positive news coverage have been considerably more pervasive than previously known. At the same time, records and interviews suggest widespread complicity or negligence by television stations, given industry ethics standards that discourage the broadcast of prepackaged news segments from any outside group without revealing the source.
. . .

Tres besos.

[swag]

13. One more kick for Monday morning

peace and love