Guest blogged by Winter Patriot
Early this afternoon, the lead story on CNN’s main page was headlined “Critics question Pentagon news sites“.
It began:
That story is now gone, and not a trace of it can be found. The CNN search engine can’t find it. Google knows nothing. Interesting, no?
Why do you suppose CNN pulled it? You don’t suppose they got any heat for it, do you?
And what do you make of the shift-of-tense? The first sentence says “[DoD] plans to add more sites”, but the second sentence says “the sites are run”. Is this story about sites that are already up and running? Or about sites that don’t yet exist? Or both? I can’t tell. Can you? We may as well assume the worst.
Further, what do you suppose it means by “journalists”? What do you suppose that word means in the context of the phrase “President Bush’s pledge not to pay journalists to promote his policies”? How about “partisan hacks pretending to be journalists”? Do you think his pledge extends that far? Do you suppose Jeff Gannon qualifies as a “journalist”?
I still say we may as well assume the worst. We may as well expect more “information warfare”. We may as well expect more “battlefield deception”. We should never forget that “the home front” is considered “a battlefield”, where those who can see through the propaganda, and who dare call it by its proper name, are considered “the enemy”.
I wish I had saved more of that story. I wish I had read more of it.
Oh well. We’ll find out soon enough. But not from CNN.
That story ran last nite on cnn. said gov. had several sites for education, mainly for other countries, ran by journalists. I vote for "partisan hacks" .
Magharebia and Southeast European Times are listed as "information warfare" at http://news.yahoo and white house AP
This has nothing to do with CNN or its recently pulled story, but you might like to have a look at this Information Warfare Tutorial.
powerline blog linked to the story earlier today……..the link still works….the story is still there………..
Pentagon sites: Journalism or propaganda?
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. Department of Defense plans to add more sites on the Internet to provide information to a global audience — but critics question whether the Pentagon is violating President Bush’s pledge not to pay journalists to promote his policies.
powerline’s blog is here
:O Well, I don’t have all the answers, but I did see the following story on MSNBC’s site:
Journalists paid to write for military Web site
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6915347/
Earlier on, Editor & Publisher ran an item that was even more interesting. Larry DiRita admitted the Pentagon has been paying reporters/journalists to write for its foreign propaganda sites. I’ll quote the last paragraph below, but the kicker is that, I think, they know they’re going to get their collective butts kicked (Judith Miller, anyone? All the other cheerleading in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion anyone?), so they want to tarnish Clinton to distract the press/public from their insidious machinations. Check out the following: Was There Pundit Payola at the Pentagon?
"I have no reason to believe there might be a problem, but in a department as large as ours, with decentralized decision-making and budget approval authorities, it seems appropriate to audit relevant contracts in a systematic manner," wrote chief Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita in a letter to Pentagon Inspector-General Joseph Schmitz…In the letter, Di Rita said it would be "most helpful to review activities going back six to eight years," which would cover the second term of the Clinton administration.
The Pentagon states that the information is true and accurate even though Wolfowitz states the web site contrators should only hire journalist (freelance writers) who would not discredit the U.S. government. Also a class in Karl Rove 101 disinformation would be helpful for journalists to get the Pentagon’s message out.
Off topic, but… Hey, guess what?
Remember that *bulge* in Bish’s coat during the debates?
Read this: it seems it *was* a huge story and was spiked. Knock youselves out.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2012
Oh… The GOP’s are responsible for worse hypocritical propaganda than that!! I supose you could say this is about politics, but only in the sense that it involves the complete distortion of facts and truth for political motivation and gain. For me, this is about the exploitation of victims (a US Marine Corp’s medic, and an Iraqui baby) in a completely immoral and plainly selfish and evil way.
Check out this forum.
And commentary here.
And the Iowa Presidential Watch are responsible for a lot more like this! But that can only be expected considering the totally immoral and selish people who run it.
Thanks everyone for the comments. The link in comment #4 does indeed work, but the story it links to is somewhat different than the story I quoted. The headline has been changed, and some text has been revised, and, strangely enough, the story is listed as having been posted on Saturday morning at 3:04AM EST. It’s no wonder I couldn’t find it last night.
All in all, I’m not sure whether I owe CNN an apology, but the idea that our tax dollars are being spent on ‘news sites’ run by the Pentagon still doesn’t sit well with me. Oh well … a lot of the other things they are doing are much worse. ;-( But that still doesn’t make it right.
Read the "Bulgegate" article last nite, what pissed me off was the reason it was tossed by MSM, and that bushy lied lied and lied about it. Even had the damn tailor on tv joking about the $3000 hand made garments! He is French, and acted very cute for the camera, almost flirting. I can understand MSM killing a rumor, but this was factually substantiated information the public had a right to know about.Also the reporters wanted to run the story, but were not allowed to.
Winter Patriot:
I have the entire CNN article and the URL. Where do I send it?
Skip JNAH. Oh Sh**!! Is there any true thing accessible in 2005? Is there a truthful person? Is there an uncompromised "news source?" Of course not! So WHERE DO WE GO for information?
JNAH, we knew all about that. This is NOT a scoop. News flash! the Media won’t comment on a wired Bush! Duh.
They do it all the time WP … even the white house website made an illegal scrub attempt (which this BLOG is famous for exposing).
Blogger Jimmo Needs a Hug, #7 above, mentions another major story coverup.
Hi SherAn. Thanks a lot but you don’t really have to send it anywhere. A working link has already been posted! (in this comment; the article is here).
What would be really interesting is if you could explain why it was up on CNN’s site yesterday afternoon, gone last night, and back up [with another headline] early this morning.
Here’s my theory 🙂 I think they’re reading me 🙂 I think they’re playing with my mind 😉 I think they knew that article had caught my eye, and that I’d saved the first paragraph, but that I hadn’t saved or read the whole thing 😉 I think they took it down, changed it, and put it back up just to drive me crazy 😉 Guess what? 😉 That’s not necessary 😉 I’m crazy already! ;-p
Right you are, Dredd. (#15). And in comment #16 I was just kidding of course, but I’m getting more and more serious about serious people spilling serious beans (or not).
If you’re not yet aware of the book "Code Names", you won’t want to read "Arkin Spills The Beans" at please don’t read my blog.
Good catch, Winter Patriot. You are the Catcher in the Rye. Have you read Salinger?
It cracks me up when fascists play coy.
It’s like everyone is doing scripts under the assumption that "someone is watching".
The fascist journalists who are "embedded" (being fucked by) by the admin exhibit a notion that someone is watching, and behave accordingly.
The admin, assuming the same, develop a rhetoric that is at best gag me.
It is just another mystery religion. Why does cowboy town architecture have a false front or facia, why does the TV and movie industry have a false front (the set), and why does PC (politically correct) behavior permeate everything?
Oh, "the world is a stage" someone said.
Fuck it. There is just too much bubble gum chewing put on, phony, bushit.
The most jolly game in town is to fucking deceive somebody.
That sucks.
Ok, Ok, Ok … rant over. Dredd out … for now …
Freaky. Creepy.
www-cgi.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/04/web.us/ – 49k – 4 Feb 2005 – Cached – Similar pages
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. Department of Defense plans to add more sites on the Internet to provide information to a global audience — but critics question whether the Pentagon is violating President Bush’s pledge not to pay journalists to promote his policies.The Defense Department runs two Web sites overseas, one aimed at people in the Balkan region in Europe, the other for the Maghreb area of North Africa. It is preparing another site, even as the Pentagon inspector general investigates whether the sites are appropriate.The Web sites carry stories on subjects such as politics, sports and entertainment. Information warfareThe sites are run by U.S. military troops trained in "information warfare," a specialty that can include battlefield deception.Pentagon officials say the goal is to counter "misinformation" about the United States in overseas media.At first glance, the Web pages appear to be independent news sites. To find out who is actually behind the content, a visitor would have to click on a small link — at the bottom of the page — to a disclaimer, which says, in part, that the site is "sponsored by" the U.S. Department of Defense."There is an element of deception," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "The problem," he said, is that it looks like a news site unless a visitor looks at the disclaimer, which is "sort of oblique."The Pentagon maintains that the information on the sites is true and accurate. But in a recent memo, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz insisted that the Web site contractor should only hire journalists who "will not reflect discredit on the U.S. government."The Defense Department has hired more than 50 freelance writers for the sites.Some senior military officers have told CNN the Web sites may clash with President Bush’s recent statements. "We will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda," Bush told reporters on January 26. "Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet." (Full story)Bush made those comments after it came to light that the administration had paid several commentators to support U.S. policies in the U.S. media.Many Democrats have called for an end to what they call administration propaganda within the United States.But many lawmakers view the rules for handling information overseas as a separate issue.On Thursday, Lawrence Di Rita, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, asked the Pentagon inspector general to examine Defense Department activities, including the Web sites in question, to see that they fall within the guidelines Bush laid out.Di Rita said the department wanted "to make sure that we are staying well within the lines, and I believe we are."Rosenstiel said there is a reason why rules exist to separate journalism from government information. "Anytime that the government has to assure you, ‘Believe me, take my word for it, I’m telling you nothing but the truth,’ you know you should be worried," he said.
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Time to bring a phrase up to date:
Then:
"Lies, damned lies and statistics."
Now:
"Lies, damned lies, statistics, politicians promises, e-voting machines and the main stream media."
Proof positive (if any were needed) that life continues to get more complicated.
It all lends credence to the belief that the Bushists are waging a war on the Constitution and (as we all know) the first casualty of war is truth. Come the fall, let’s make sure that the MSM are toppled also for their outright complicity with the lies and deceit. Surely, aiding and abetting any attack on the constitution should bring the MSM into the bracket of "all enemies, both foreign and domestic"?
Keep the faith!
Yet another Raw Story exposing of yet more white house coverup, fake news, and other improperganda.
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