As posts on this site by Katrina vanden Heuvel and Ari Melber outline, yesterday's New York Times' front-page piece convincingly exposed the Pentagon's propaganda machine, its control over access and information, and its selling of the "war on terror" -- beginning with the buildup to the Iraq war. David Barstow's excellent reporting also underscored the complicity of the major media.
The scheme reaches all the way to the Bush White House, where top officials recruited dozens of "military analysts" to spread favorable views of the war on TV and radio -- without revealing they were working from Pentagon scripts and often lobbying for major military contractors. However, spreading "covert propaganda" is illegal under federal law, as a new campaign by our friends at Free Press is reminding us. Therefore Congress must investigate these military pundits and their ties to the Bush administration, defense contractors and our national news media.
Watch this video to see how bad the problems are.
Peter Rothberg
As posts on this site by Katrina vanden Heuvel and Ari Melber outline, yesterday’s New York Times‘ front-page piece convincingly exposed the Pentagon’s propaganda machine, its control over access and information, and its selling of the “war on terror” — beginning with the buildup to the Iraq war. David Barstow’s excellent reporting also underscored the complicity of the major media.
The scheme reaches all the way to the Bush White House, where top officials recruited dozens of “military analysts” to spread favorable views of the war on TV and radio — without revealing they were working from Pentagon scripts and often lobbying for major military contractors. However, spreading “covert propaganda” is illegal under federal law, as a new campaign by our friends at Free Press is reminding us. Therefore Congress must investigate these military pundits and their ties to the Bush administration, defense contractors and our national news media.
Watch this video to see how bad the problems are.
Then, sign on to Free Press’s petition to Congress and urge your elected reps to investigate.
Peter RothbergTwitterPeter Rothberg is the The Nation’s associate publisher.