From: "Rich Gauszka" 

I expect us to conduct ourselves in a manor appropriate with our ideals.
Your argument appears to be everything is OK as long as we're a little
better than al-Jazeera



"Mark"  wrote in message
news:438fab72{at}w3.nls.net...
> I'm saying that I have no problem with us providing stories for some of
> the hundreds of papers that are being printed in Iraq today, indeed if
> even the LA Times says they're "mostly factual" I'd say
they're more than
> mostly factual, they're real from a to z.
>
> Shorter version: BFD.
>
> Now, do you wish to vent some outrage at the propaganda al Jazeera
> broadcasts complete with headless bodies, or do you  prefer to continue
> engaging in faux outrage about a few accurate stories about school
> children getting lunchboxes that the rags like the LA Times wouldn't touch
> for a billion dollars let alone a few million?
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:438fa8cf$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Oh - so you're saying the White House concern is pretence? Business as
>> usual?
>>
>>
>> "Mark"  wrote in message
>> news:438fa0df$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> Of course they are Rich, gimme a break -- they have to put the best face
>>> on it now that the press has made a big deal out of nothing. >> all the outrage at al Jazeera airing the terrorists propaganda?
>>> Propaganda that includes severed heads...>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>>> news:438f9bbd{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> Well John Warner and the White House seem to be upset. Did they join
>>>> the wasteland of western media?
>>>>
>>>> "We're very concerned about the reports. We are seeking more
>>>> information from the Pentagon," said White House
spokesman Scott
>>>> McClellan.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Gary Britt" 
wrote in message
>>>> news:438f2843$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>I would be upset if they weren't doing this.  In a
country where the
>>>>>number
>>>>> of media liars are exponentially larger than the
majority liars of the
>>>>> media
>>>>> in this country, it is absolutely a great idea to try
and counter all
>>>>> that
>>>>> disinformation that is being PAID for by the anti-USA
elements in the
>>>>> region.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is really a non-story of all non-stories.  Except
in the baron
>>>>> wasteland of the minds of western media.
>>>>>
>>>>> Gary
>>>>>
>>>>> "Rich Gauszka" 
wrote in message
>>>>> news:438e93f5$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>> Since the Bushies can't seem to get the Iraqi
equivalent of dupes
>>>>>> like
>>>>>> FoxNews to spread their feelgood  propaganda in
Iraq they've had to
>>>>>> resort
>>>>>> to good ol American capitalism - bribes and payola
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/politics/01propag
>>>>>>
anda.html?hp&ex=1133499600&en=3af8aaf9fa1cb0bc&ei=5094&partner=homepage
>>>>>>
>>>>>> WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 - Titled "The Sands Are
Blowing Toward a
>>>>>> Democratic
>>>>>> Iraq," an article written this week for
publication in the Iraqi
>>>>>> press was
>>>>>> scornful of outsiders' pessimism about the country's future.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Western press and frequently those
self-styled 'objective' observers
>>>>>> of
>>>>>> Iraq are often critics of how we, the people of
Iraq, are proceeding
>>>>>> down
>>>>>> the path in determining what is best for our
nation," the article
>>>>>> began.
>>>>>> Quoting the Prophet Muhammad, it pleaded for unity
and nonviolence
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But far from being the heartfelt opinion of an
Iraqi writer, as its
>>>>> language
>>>>>> implied, the article was prepared by the United
States military as
>>>>>> part of
>>>>> a
>>>>>> multimillion-dollar covert campaign to plant paid
propaganda in the
>>>>>> Iraqi
>>>>>> news media and pay friendly Iraqi journalists
monthly stipends,
>>>>>> military
>>>>>> contractors and officials 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.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 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.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 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.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In many cases, the material prepared by the
military was given to
>>>>>> advertising agencies for placement, and at least
some of the material
>>>>>> ran
>>>>>> with an advertising label. But the American
authorship and financing
>>>>>> were
>>>>>> not revealed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Military spokesmen in Washington and Baghdad said
Wednesday that they
>>>>>> had
>>>>> no
>>>>>> information on the contract. In an interview from
Baghdad on Nov. 18,
>>>>>> Lt.
>>>>>> Col. Steven A. Boylan, a military spokesman, said
the Pentagon's
>>>>>> contract
>>>>>> with the Lincoln Group was an attempt to "try
to get stories out to
>>>>>> publications that normally don't have access to
those kind of
>>>>>> stories."
>>>>> The
>>>>>> military's top commanders, including Gen. Peter
Pace, the chairman of
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> joint chiefs of staff, did not know about the
Lincoln Group contract
>>>>>> until
>>>>>> Wednesday, when it was first described by The Los
Angeles Times, said
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> senior military official who was not authorized to
speak publicly.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Pentagon officials said General Pace and other top
officials were
>>>>> disturbed
>>>>>> by the reported details of the propaganda campaign
and demanded
>>>>> explanations
>>>>>> from senior officers in Iraq, the official said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> When asked about the article Wednesday night on
the ABC News program
>>>>>> "Nightline," General Pace said, "I
would be concerned about anything
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> would be detrimental to the proper growth of
democracy."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Others seemed to share the sentiment. "I
think it's absolutely wrong
>>>>>> for
>>>>> the
>>>>>> government to do this," said Patrick Butler,
vice president of the
>>>>>> International Center for Journalists in
Washington, which conducts
>>>>>> ethics
>>>>>> training for journalists from countries without a history of
>>>>>> independent
>>>>>> news media. "Ethically, it's indefensible."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mr. Butler, who spoke from a conference in
Wisconsin with Arab
>>>>> journalists,
>>>>>> said the American government paid for many
programs that taught
>>>>>> foreign
>>>>>> journalists not to accept payments from interested
parties to write
>>>>> articles
>>>>>> and not to print government propaganda disguised as news.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "You show the world you're not living by the
principles you profess
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> believe in, and you lose all credibility," he said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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