Bush paid TV pundit to push education plan

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Gary Younge in Washington
Saturday January 8, 2005
The Guardian

The Bush administration paid an African-American pundit $240,000 (£127,000) to promote its education policies to the black community and urge other black journalists to do the same in the run-up to the presidential election.

In an effort to promote its controversial education reform programme, No Child Left Behind, the education department paid Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts" on a nationally syndicated television show.

According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Mr Williams had to interview the former education secretary Rod Paige, who is also black, for television and radio spots.

Mr Williams, 45, described by the Washington Post as "one of the most recognisable conservative voices in America", also exploited his contacts with a professional group of black broadcasters, America's Black Forum, "to encourage producers to periodically address" NCLB, and persuaded the television personality Steve Harvey to twice invite Mr Paige on to his show.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1385818,00.html

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