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Critics: Bush's PR was propaganda

The administration's promotion of its education and Medicare plans deceived the public, observers say.

By BILL ADAIR
Published January 17, 2005

WASHINGTON - Armstrong Williams has been a loyal supporter of President Bush.

As a columnist and host of a TV talk show, Williams has often praised Bush's initiatives, including his No Child Left Behind education plan. But Williams didn't tell his readers or viewers that he had received $240,000 from the Bush administration to promote the plan.

The revelation that Williams received taxpayer money comes on the heels of another controversial public relations effort. The administration provided TV stations with prepackaged news segments about Medicare and drug abuse. But viewers might have believed the segments were prepared by real journalists because they had professional narration and ended with phrases such as, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."

The segments aired on many stations, but viewers had no idea that they were paid for by the government or that Ryan was actually a public relations executive.

Critics say the prepackaged news segments and the hiring of Williams indicate the Bush administration - known for its shrewd and well-disciplined media effort - has crossed the line from providing information to illegal propaganda.

"I think it's certainly improper," said Bill Kovach, a former New York Times editor who heads the Committee of Concerned Journalists. "The government should speak openly to its people."

But Bush administration officials say that the video news releases are widely used by business and government and that TV news producers are told they come from the government. It's up to TV producers to decide whether to reveal the source, Bush officials say.

President Bush said he expects disclosure from contractors such as Williams. Bush said: "I think there needs to be transparency and a clear line between people who profess to be a reporter - and advocacy. Obviously there wasn't in this case. And I think we're going to have to look and make sure it doesn't happen again."

"A multimedia wonder'

Williams is part pundit, part entrepreneur.

A protege of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Williams is one of the nation's most prominent black conservatives. He has frequently appeared on cable news channels boosting Bush's agenda.

Williams, 45, runs a media company that produces his syndicated TV show, The Right Side With Armstrong Williams. He also has a public relations firm, the Graham Williams Group. On his Web site, Armstrong describes himself as "a multimedia wonder, taking stands for what's right."

In 2003, Ketchum, a public relations agency hired by the U.S. Department of Education, signed a contract with Williams to promote No Child Left Behind. The $240,000 paid for ads during Williams' TV show. The contract also called for him to talk with other journalists to promote the education initiative.

Williams and the Bush administration have been sharply criticized since USA Today first reported the contract a week ago. Alex Jones, director of Harvard University's Shorenstein media center, said it was "the worst kind of fakery and flackery" on Williams' part. "It's propaganda masquerading as news, paid by government, truly a recipe from hell."

Williams wrote a column for Tribune Media Services, but the company fired him after the revelation about the contract.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said: "The Bush administration paid a journalist to covertly promote its agenda and it got caught. The deal was illegal and unethical."

Williams told the St. Petersburg Times tha t he made a mistake by failing to disclose the relationship. "I am deserving of having my column ties severed," he said. "I violated the code of ethics."

He said he accepted the money for ads but did not contact journalists to promote No Child Left Behind as the contract specified. He said officials at Ketchum did not object, but the contract was not changed.

"I'm not a journalist. I was a businessman. I was an entrepreneur," he said.

However, Williams has interviewed Education Secretary Rod Paige and other administration officials on The Right Side and another show called On Point With Armstrong Williams, which is carried by TV One, a cable network aimed at black viewers.

On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission announced it was launching an investigation into the Williams case.

'Subterfuge'

Companies and government agencies use video news releases to promote their products and programs on TV news shows.

Some video releases simply provide footage that stations can use with their own narrations. But others, such as the ones offered by the Bush administration, include complete 90-second stories with introductions that can be read by a TV anchor and narration by people who sound as if they are reporters. They are actually PR employees or voice-over performers hired by the producer of the news release.

Some TV stations air just a few seconds from the releases in a much longer news story. But others - especially smaller stations - will air a release in its entirety.

The Medicare office issued a video release that included a prepackaged story narrated by someone identified as Karen Ryan. Medicare even provided a suggested introduction for TV anchors to read that concluded with, "Karen Ryan explains -" - as if she were a reporter on the staff.

The segment included images of Bush signing a law to create a Medicare drug benefit. Ryan said, "All people with Medicare will be able to get coverage that will lower their prescription drug spending." Forty stations in 33 markets used at least a portion of the releases.

The image of Bush and some of the language angered Democrats who said the Bush administration was using taxpayer money to appeal to senior voters.

The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, determined the Medicare segment and one from the Office of National Drug Control Policy broke a federal law against propaganda because the audience was not told the source.

The Medicare agency "did not indicate that its stories about the government were, in fact, prepared by the government," GAO general counsel Anthony Gamboa said in a letter to members of Congress.

Kovach, of the journalist group, said the video releases are "subterfuge."

Josh Silver, executive director of the Free Press, a nonpartisan group that opposes media consolidation, said stations that use the releases should "have a large readable disclaimer that says "Provided by a PR firm."'

The Bush administration disagrees with GAO's findings and continues to use video releases. Bush officials note that such releases by the Clinton administration did not prompt an outcry.

TV producers "knew it was from us," said Bill Pierce, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare. "They were the ones who made the decisions about not identifying it."

Pierce said the agency did not expect stations to air the entire segment. "It is simply a suggestion of how a news story could be put together," he said.

To avoid the controversy, the drug control office has stopped using the video releases, but a spokesman says there is nothing wrong with using them.

Kovach is troubled by the trend of video releases and payments to talk show hosts because he says both are deceptive.

"He how do you maintain an open and honest relationship with the public when you are not open and honest?"

[Last modified January 17, 2005, 10:59:09]