Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand- (a must read report about propaganda!!)

[Breeze54]

Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin


A PENTAGON CAMPAIGN Retired officers have been used to shape
terrorism coverage from inside the TV and radio networks.


By DAVID BARSTOW
Published: April 20, 2008

In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.

The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.

To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.

Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.

Analysts have been wooed in hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over contracting and budget matters, records show. They have been taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. They have been briefed by officials from the White House, State Department and Justice Department, including Mr. Cheney, Alberto R. Gonzales and Stephen J. Hadley.

In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.

A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

“It was them saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,’ ” Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst, said.

Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who has taught information warfare at the National Defense University, said the campaign amounted to a sophisticated information operation. “This was a coherent, active policy,” he said.

As conditions in Iraq deteriorated, Mr. Allard recalled, he saw a yawning gap between what analysts were told in private briefings and what subsequent inquiries and books later revealed.

“Night and day,” Mr. Allard said, “I felt we’d been hosed.”

More.... * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 * 6 * 7 * 8 * 9 * 10 * 11 Next Page »

[Breeze54]

1. “message force multipliers” or “surrogates”

:grr:

Page 2 -- snip--> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&hp

Five years into the Iraq war, most details of the architecture and execution of the Pentagon’s campaign have never been disclosed. But The Times successfully sued the Defense Department to gain access to 8,000 pages of e-mail messages, transcripts and records describing years of private briefings, trips to Iraq and Guantánamo and an extensive Pentagon talking points operation.

These records reveal a symbiotic relationship where the usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been obliterated.

Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration “themes and messages” to millions of Americans “in the form of their own opinions.”

Though many analysts are paid network consultants, making $500 to $1,000 per appearance, in Pentagon meetings they sometimes spoke as if they were operating behind enemy lines, interviews and transcripts show. Some offered the Pentagon tips on how to outmaneuver the networks, or as one analyst put it to Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, “the Chris Matthewses and the Wolf Blitzers of the world.” Some warned of planned stories or sent the Pentagon copies of their correspondence with network news executives.

Many — although certainly not all — faithfully echoed talking points intended to counter critics.

“Good work,” Thomas G. McInerney, a retired Air Force general, consultant and Fox News analyst, wrote to the Pentagon after receiving fresh talking points in late 2006. “We will use it.”

snip-->

For example, when news articles revealed that troops in Iraq were dying because of inadequate body armor, a senior Pentagon official wrote to his colleagues: “I think our analysts — properly armed — can push back in that arena.”

[Breeze54]

15. “psyops on steroids”

These terms slay me....

---

(Page 5 of 11)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?pagewanted=5&_r=2&hp

“Oh, you have no idea,” Mr. Allard said, describing the effect. “You’re back. They listen to you. They listen to what you say on TV.” It was, he said, “psyops on steroids” — a nuanced exercise in influence through flattery and proximity. “It’s not like it’s, ‘We’ll pay you $500 to get our story out,’ ” he said. “It’s more subtle.”

The access came with a condition. Participants were instructed not to quote their briefers directly or otherwise describe their contacts with the Pentagon.

[Breeze54]

2. I'm not sure if the word "whore" is strong enough to describe these bastards!

:grr:

Not that I wasn't aware that they were lying or had an agenda but many people
swear by what they say as the truth. I hope those people read this article.

[KharmaTrain]

3. And This Is News???

Many of us "media watchers" have been saying this practice has been going on for years. The networks love them ex military types...especially when it comes to narrating the latest "BDA" video or wave the flag. It's been so blatant that not only are most of these slimeballs owned by this regime (a major reason they got the gig) but that they were on the payrolls of the contractors. A couple were outted here...and all it took was a simple "The google"...something that must not work in most corporate media news departments.

The entire Iraq fiasco has been one orchestrated TV show from the outset. I can only think of Wesley Clark as being the only ex-military who dared to get on the air and criticize what was going on...and we sure don't see him much do we? It was so blatant on Faux...but on the other networks as well (someone needs to post the old Psy-Ops at CNN story again) as the networks profited in many ways from this invasion.

The right wing badgering of the media that they were being 'unpatriotic' and 'librul' just made the Pentagon's dirty tricks more effective and it still does. I'll be curious to see if any network responds to this story...or, as I suspect, the corporate media will do all it can to bury this thing.

[Breeze54]

5. Not news to many at DU but I think it may be to Faux viewers and others...

:eyes:

"the corporate media will do all it can to bury this thing."

You know they will!! :grr:


Good post. ;)

[KharmaTrain]

6. The Parallel Universe

There's a term we haven't thrown around here in a long while...the world the viewers of Faux live in. This revelation will be blasted as more "librul propaganda" by the NYT and not just dismissed but ridiculed...that will feed the bloodlust of the average Faux sheeple.

The timing of this story is interesting considering how low the corporate media's credibility has fallen...especially among many Democrats. It's like the revelation a couple years ago about Armstrong Williams taking money to play telepundit. He was exiled for a little bit, but sure enough, when CNN needed a "token"...the black repugnican, he was back on (and probably banking more checks).

As I keep sayin'...our biggest enemy this year isn't the repugnicans...left alone we should kick their sorry asses...but it's the corporate media that will attempt to manipulate, distort and trivialize. My hopes are many are now aware of this con game and that we'll see backlashes at the polls in November.

:hi:

[Breeze54]

9. "My hopes are many are now aware of this con game..."

Me too but I suspect you're right. Some will deny this and call it more "librul propaganda" :eyes:

Randi Rhodes or one of the hosts at NovaMRadio runs a pretty funny skit with RWers denying the facts
of everything and when they are told the facts, they keep saying, "No, uh uh, not true, because Faux
didn't say it was true." It's rather comical, imo. :P

But that's why I posted it, for the Faux lurkers and some DUers that are still in denial. ;)

And those that spew "facts" that aren't facts but only propaganda!!!

I think we're going to see a huge backlash in Nov. I was watching a news broadcast (local) the
other night, and they were reporting that so many new people have registered to vote in PA, that
whole counties that were RethugliCon are now Democratic counties... over night!! That's impressive! :D

[Lasher]

26. I have wondered how much of the 'surge' results are manufactured.

Public opinion has improved somewhat concerning the war in Iraq, due to the reduction in violence accompanying the 'surge'. This has worked in favor of the neocons' favorite candidate, John McCain. I have wondered how much of these results are true and I'm now starting to wonder if any of them are. They have cut off access to Iraq's morgues, so the civillian death toll as reported by the US government can not be independently verified. And a news reporter outside the Green Zone is a rare thing. The violence could have doubled for all we really know.

After having seen this article, I realize just such a fabrication is exactly what the propaganda ministry is intended to create.

[Breeze54]

4. "They have distributed to local TV stations hundreds of fake news segments..."

"But these were trifling compared with what Ms. Clarke’s team had in mind. Don Meyer, an aide to
Ms. Clarke, said a strategic decision was made in 2002 to make the analysts the main focus of the
public relations push to construct a case for war. Journalists were secondary. “We didn’t want to
rely on them to be our primary vehicle to get information out,” Mr. Meyer said.

The decision recalled other administration tactics that subverted traditional journalism.
Federal agencies, for example, have paid columnists to write favorably about the administration.
They have distributed to local TV stations hundreds of fake news segments with fawning accounts
of administration accomplishments. The Pentagon itself has made covert payments to Iraqi newspapers
to publish coalition propaganda."

[malaise]

7. As if we didn't know

Shameless men.

What this shows beyond a doubt is that M$M were in on it and have been important enablers for Bushco and his war crimes. All the liars should be dragged out in chains.

Add

[Breeze54]

10. Yes but in the article, they say some networks

weren't aware of all the connections. I'm not sure if that's true but many
went along without checking their backgrounds and connections to contractors.

[nashville_brook]

19. "some networks"

hmmm.

[Breeze54]

20. you forgot the rest of that sentence...

:P

[Breeze54]

8. 'heavily represented by men involved in helping companies win military contracts.'

snip--> (Page 4 of 11)

Over time, the Pentagon recruited more than 75 retired officers, although some participated only briefly or sporadically. The largest contingent was affiliated with Fox News, followed by NBC and CNN, the other networks with 24-hour cable outlets. But analysts from CBS and ABC were included, too.

The group was heavily represented by men involved in the business of helping companies win military contracts. Several held senior positions with contractors that gave them direct responsibility for winning new Pentagon business. James Marks, a retired Army general and analyst for CNN from 2004 to 2007, pursued military and intelligence contracts as a senior executive with McNeil Technologies. Still others held board positions with military firms that gave them responsibility for government business. General McInerney, the Fox analyst, for example, sits on the boards of several military contractors, including Nortel Government Solutions, a supplier of communication networks.

Several were defense industry lobbyists, such as Dr. McCausland, who works at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, a major lobbying firm where he is director of a national security team that represents several military contractors. “We offer clients access to key decision makers,” Dr. McCausland’s team promised on the firm’s Web site.

Dr. McCausland was not the only analyst making this pledge. Another was Joseph W. Ralston, a retired Air Force general. Soon after signing on with CBS, General Ralston was named vice chairman of the Cohen Group, a consulting firm headed by a former defense secretary, William Cohen, himself now a “world affairs” analyst for CNN. “The Cohen Group knows that getting to ‘yes’ in the aerospace and defense market — whether in the United States or abroad — requires that companies have a thorough, up-to-date understanding of the thinking of government decision makers,” the company tells prospective clients on its Web site.

There were also ideological ties.

Two of NBC’s most prominent analysts, Barry R. McCaffrey and the late Wayne A. Downing, were on the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, an advocacy group created with White House encouragement in 2002 to help make the case for ousting Saddam Hussein. Both men also had their own consulting firms and sat on the boards of major military contractors.

more...

*sigh*

[malaise]

11. M$M have sold out

They are as naked as Bushco.
"Two of NBC’s most prominent analysts, Barry R. McCaffrey and the late Wayne A. Downing, were on the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, an advocacy group created with White House encouragement in 2002 to help make the case for ousting Saddam Hussein. Both men also had their own consulting firms and sat on the boards of major military contractors".

I can't wait for this whore to show up on GEM$NBC. Even CSpan gave him airplay during the Betrayus visit recently.

add

[Breeze54]

12. I agree and Let's keep exposing them....

;)

[MadHound]

13. Well duh! This has been an obvious ploy for a long while

And here I thought that the NYT was going to come clean about how they and other news outlets have reporters, editors, writers and news readers on pay of the intelligence community. But no, they're not going to bite the hand that feeds them.

[Breeze54]

14. Did you read the article? I think they did say

they have people on retainer, unless I misread it.

[H2O Man]

16. Very important.

Thank you for posting this.

Nominated.

[Breeze54]

17. Looks like I made a mistake,

as someone else posted it last night, right after midnight.

Hope they aren't peeved.

Oh well; that's twice the info. for all to see! :P

[Lasher]

25. I was about to do the same thing.

The new search feature really is handy. Looks like this article was first posted by swag on April 19 at 5:47 PM in GD. Yourgide posted it in GDP the same day at 6:34 PM. Then kpete posted it on April 20 at 12:29 AM in GD.

As H2O Man said, this is very important. When pundits and 'reporters' on all the major networks start repeating the exact same talking points at the very same moment about a particular issue, you have to be pretty slow if you don't realize they are all pretty much just reading to us from the latest Karl Rove & company fax from the White House. But this important article provides a revealing look at the propaganda ministry's manipulative workings.

With me, the credibility gap in the news media just widened to a chasm. The press pool truly is a cesspool.

[Breeze54]

18. Omnitec Solutions - hired so Pentagon could keep tabs on "analysts"

Pentagon Keeps Tabs

(Page 8 of 11)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?pagewanted=8&_r=2&hp

As it happened, the analysts’ news media appearances were being closely monitored. The Pentagon paid a private contractor, Omnitec Solutions, hundreds of thousands of dollars to scour databases for any trace of the analysts,
be it a segment on “The O’Reilly Factor” or an interview with The Daily Inter Lake in Montana, circulation 20,000.

Omnitec evaluated their appearances using the same tools as corporate branding experts. One report, assessing the impact of several trips to Iraq in 2005, offered example after example of analysts echoing Pentagon themes on all the networks.

“Commentary from all three Iraq trips was extremely positive over all,” the report concluded.

More...

This is enough to make me want to hurl... again!! :puke:

Those f**king bastids! :grr:

[Breeze54]

21. ;;;;;;;;;;;

Why not? :P

[nashville_brook]

22. is it too simplistic to say that this article, in essence, is the NYTs finally vetting THEIR sources

just wondering, 'cause, it kinda seems that way to me.

[Breeze54]

23. I think they're outing the Pentagon's sources and

they state in the article that they have been investigating this, tried to get proof using FOIA, etc.

The article clearly names virtually every network and others...

[Quantess]

24. A bunch of of old white men.

As though they automatically are some sort of authority figures.

[MeganFP]

27. Take Action

Government-sanctioned propaganda violates every conceivable standard of journalism.

That it has been allowed to continue unquestioned and undisclosed for years is an indictment of both this White House and a docile American media.

Free Press is calling on Congress to investigate the military pundits and their ties to the Bush administration, defense contractors and our national news media. Please forward the e-mail below to your members and encourage them to urge Congress to lead an investigation.

You can take action at: https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?&id=257

It's time the truth about the selling of this war came out.