New York Times: Pentagon paying for positive news on Iraq
Iraq-USA, Politics, 12/2/2005

The New York Times reported yesterday that the Pentagon is seeking to pay reporters to influence coverage of news in Iraq.

The report said "The article was one of several in a storyboard, the military's term for a list of articles, that was delivered Tuesday to the Lincoln Group, a Washington-based public relations firm paid by the Pentagon, documents from the Pentagon show. The contractor's job is to translate the articles into Arabic and submit them to Iraqi newspapers or advertising agencies without revealing the Pentagon's role. Documents show that the intended target of the article on a democratic Iraq was Azzaman, a leading independent newspaper, but it is not known whether it was published there or anywhere else."

The New York Times said "Even as the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development pay contractors millions of dollars to help train journalists and promote a professional and independent Iraqi media, the Pentagon is paying millions more to the Lincoln Group for work that appears to violate fundamental principles of Western journalism."

The New York Times report added "In addition to paying newspapers to print government propaganda, Lincoln has paid about a dozen Iraqi journalists each several hundred dollars a month, a person who had been told of the transactions said. Those journalists were chosen because their past coverage had not been antagonistic to the United States, said the person, who is being granted anonymity because of fears for the safety of those involved. In addition, the military storyboards have in some cases copied verbatim text from copyrighted publications and passed it on to be printed in the Iraqi press without attribution, documents and interviews indicated."

The report said: Citing a "fundamental problem of credibility" and foreign opposition to American policies, a Pentagon advisory panel last year called for the government to reinvent and expand its information programs. "Government alone cannot today communicate effectively and credibly," said the report by the task force on strategic communication of the Defense Science Board. The group recommended turning more often for help to the private sector, which it said had "a built-in agility, credibility and even deniability."

The New York Times reported that "After reports about the program circulated this week, General Casey initially protested that it should not be discussed publicly because it was classified. One senior Pentagon official said, however, that General Casey was told that response was inadequate. The official asked for anonymity to avoid possible reprisals for disclosing the general's reaction."

Previous Stories:
  Bush to stay in Iraq, links withdrawal to security   (12/1/2005)
  Rumsfeld on Iraq strategy, uniformed death squads, Iraqi elections   (11/30/2005)
  US releases broad Iraq strategy   (11/30/2005)
  Senator Biden thinks withdrawal from Iraq next year   (11/22/2005)
  Bush reacts to Congressman Murtha's call for Iraq withdrawal   (11/19/2005)
  Democrats escalate pressure to withdraw from Iraq   (11/18/2005)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search