More Payola...
Shorter WaPo: The US Government is willing to pay just about anyone -- Iraqi news stations, right-thinking bloggers, whatever -- to get out the message that they want you to hear. Your tax dollars at work, in a mass-e-mail campaign or newscast or blogwhore near you.
You know, I understand the need to combat propaganda from the other side. Truly, I do. And I understand the frustration at the good things being done in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, being overshadowed by news reports of bombings, hostage-taking and other not-so-good-for-you news.
But the way to combat that is to be better at getting your message out by preparing better briefing materials, by making the countryside safer for actual journalists to be able to travel it to report stories without having to travel in an up-armored, massive convoy. Not to pay people to report what will then be presumed to be fake news, no matter what kernel of truth it may contain.
Memo to Don Rumsfeld and his spokespeople: just because you suck at your PR job, doesn't mean you get to blame everyone else for your failure.
Of course, maybe it's some sort of new DoD reality show -- Pajama's Media: Iraq.
posted by ReddHedd @ 12/26/2005 09:56:00 AM
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