Our
View: Bush, media join in deception
The
media has lost plenty of credibility during
the past years and decades. In fact, surveys
show that media officials are locked in
a close battle with politicians for the
coveted title of least trustworthy people
alive. Instead of fighting it out, however,
the two seemed to have joined forces to
create the ultimate in misleading information
and propaganda.
As
The New York Times first reported last week,
the Bush administration hired actors to
pose as journalists for faux television
reports touting the merits of the new Medicare
"reform" package. One of the spots
features staged interviews with Tommy Thompson,
secretary of health and human services,
clearly reading off a teleprompter. There
are images of the president speaking before
cheering crowds and similar misrepresentations.
The segments are narrated by a "reporter"
who concludes the pieces by saying, "In
Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."
There
are other "reports" that deceive
in the same vein. In one, a "pharmacist"
and a "customer" agree that the
new Medicare plan sounds like a "good
idea."
The
videos were distributed to various media
outlets, and around 40 of them ultimately
used the spots on their programs. Television
anchors read government-prepared scripts
that helped to pass the spots off as authentic.
Administration
officials claim that the videos are a legitimate
means of disseminating information about
the new Medicare plan. Indeed, the skits
appear to be legal. Nevertheless, the General
Accounting Office Thursday launched an investigation
into the fake news programs.
While
the fake news spots are outrageous, we can't
say we're surprised. This administration
is about as trustworthy as a hungry dog
in a butcher shop. Look at the record: No
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, no
Iraq link to al-Qaida, an outed CIA operative,
big talk about spending on AIDS in Africa
and the No Child Left Behind Act and no
follow through, etc. ad infinitum.
And
the Medicare package is a lying double whammy
-- just days after a narrow vote of approval,
it became known that the plan would cost
$150 billion more than what members of Congress
and the public were told. Suddenly the comment
by John Kerry about some current Republicans
being "the most corrupt and lying group
ever" seems somewhat plausible.
But
the media don't get off the hook on this
one. Any person not fully indoctrinated
by Fox News would notice the partisan slant
of the videos. Therefore, the stations that
broadcast the material were either complicit
in the deception or incompetent in their
pre-publication review. Either way, the
airing of such overt propaganda by so many
network affiliates is an abomination.
Concerned
citizens and media professionals should
not let this issue fade quickly away. Both
should demand that legislation be passed
prohibiting such outright fraud. Without
it, we'll only have lawyers left to trust.
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