I pulled this from this morning’s Benton Communications-Related Headlines e-mailer (a free service I highly recommend).
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GROUP FOIA’S FED OVER PROPAGANDA
Following revelations that the Bush administration paid a conservative commentator and columnist to tout the president’s “No Child Left Behind” program, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a citizens’ watchdog group, has filed Freedom of Information Act requests with 22 federal agencies seeking contracts with public-relations firms that might have set up similar arrangements. “How extensively has the administration used propaganda to shore up its controversial policies?” asked Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington a non-profit group dedicated to holding public officials to high standards of behavior. “Did it pay any commentators to speak out in support of the Patriot Act? Is it paying anyone now to convince the public that Social Security is in crisis? By filing these FOIAs, we hope to answer these questions.”
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell] (free access for Benton’s Headlines subscribers)

• Response for the White House

More coverage of this issue in:

• NYTimes
• USAToday (Lawmakers call for ‘propaganda’ probe)
• Bush launches PR campaign to change Social Security — The effort will be similar to the one he used to pass his education bill, No Child Left Behind, in 2001.
• The Nation
• BlackAmericaWeb.com
• Hollywood Reporter (Sinclair Broadcast Group is conducting an inquiry into an appearance made on one of its news shows by pundit Armstrong Williams.)
• AlterNet
• People for the American Way

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