Shouldn't the FCC be protecting our delicate sensiblities from propaganda?

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

The New York Times peice By David Barstow and Robin Stein.

“To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.”

There are rules or really, codes that TV stations are supposed to follow concerning airing video produced by outsiders. It is to make sure that what they air is factual and not just some piece of garbage Joe Yahoo sent in as a gag or something that agents of a corrupt administration produced to spread the corrupt administrations message to the people. The rule, as found in the NYTs story, is as follows ”Clearly disclose the origin of information and label all material provided by outsiders This is pretty transparent: If you get outside footage, label it. I think that this means, “tell the audience that it is not something you made and you can not vouch for it’s voracity”, or “if it might be bull shit or propaganda and if you know its bull shit or propaganda be clear that that is what the footage is".

The stations that ran and are running these propaganda films managed to pretend that transparent rule was for other stations or they were just too stupid and lazy to critically analyze the footage or follow the leads provided and create their own story about whatever the suggested topic was. The stations that aired these reports shat on their responsibilities to their viewers and put into question everything that airs on their news programs.


More from The New York Times on the Bush Admins propaganda war againsts the citizens of the United States:

The explanation begins inside the White House, where the president's communications advisers devised a strategy after Sept. 11, 2001, to encourage supportive news coverage of the fight against terrorism. The idea, they explained to reporters at the time, was to counter charges of American imperialism by generating accounts that emphasized American efforts to liberate and rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq.

An important instrument of this strategy was the Office of Broadcasting Services, a State Department unit of 30 or so editors and technicians whose typical duties include distributing video from news conferences. But in early 2002, with close editorial direction from the White House, the unit began producing narrated feature reports, many of them promoting American achievements in Afghanistan and Iraq and reinforcing the administration's rationales for the invasions. These reports were then widely distributed in the United States and around the world for use by local television stations. In all, the State Department has produced 59 such segments.

Librul media my ass. The pundits go on pundit shows and they talk about Bloggers needing to be reigned in and subject to scrutiny? Bull shit. I want to more supervision of local network affiliates. I want to see them get much closer scrutiny of what they air, I don’t mean the airing of boobies or the uttering of swear words, I want some one to be in charge of protecting us from the propagation of propaganda - at least when one of my bloggers tells me that Shrub stomps puppies and tears the heads of kittens - I know what side they’re on. I don’t want to have to wonder who wrote the copy for the guy who tells me about local textile mill closings and college basketball scores and social security changes.

Tired of fake news? go here and complain.


Edited to add, Bush admin sez but everybody does it! Yes, like North Korea, Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany.