The Price of Propaganda

How much money should the Presidential Administration spend on public relations firms, advertising agencies, media organizations and individuals?  How much of our tax dollars should it take to reframe the message, correct the impressions, and spin, spin, spin? 

One would think that press conferences where a representative of the administration, from Press Secretary to President, stands up and tells the truth would be enough, but it's not.

How much?

1.6 BILLION DOLLARS

Over what period of time?  That's just two years, from 2003 to 2005.  Extrapolated over an eight-year presidency, that's 6.4 Billion Dollars.

How much health care would that have paid for?  How many children would have been college educated with that?  How many teachers could have been hired and paid?

Here's the article.

Armstrong Williams, the conservative commentator, had been unmasked as a paid administration promoter who received $186,000 from the Education Department to speak favorably about President Bush's No Child Left Behind law in broadcast appearances.

Around the same time, a spat erupted between the GAO and the White House over whether the government's practice of feeding TV stations prepackaged, ready-to-air news stories that touted administration policies (but did not disclose the government as the source) amounted to "covert propaganda." The GAO said that it did. The administration disagreed, saying spreading information about federal programs is part of the agencies' mission, and that the burden of disclosure falls on the TV stations.

They feel no need to differentiate news from opinion, fact from fiction.  There was another Propagandist who felt the same way:

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's master of the media.

-  rick, angry all over again

Comments

[a rose is a rose]

like i'm not pissed off about the OTHER things they've done - geeze thanks rick........

[Success Warrior]

Come on!

How would we know what a great job W was doing if he didn't pay someone to tell us?

You're too harsh.

btw, it looks like we were on the same wavelength today.

[Cele]

As a member of the media, this totally disgust me. If it was paid advertising they would have to divulge who was paying for the ad. That is law. So called news is not covered by that law. And what a friggin' travesty that Bush has no qualms about spending education money to further his corrupt and failed policies that do nothing but make educating children more difficult.

Gobble Gobble

[Sideon]

And to think Clinton was impeached for lying about a blowjob.

How low we have fallen.