Well, guess what, sports fans? They were lying all along and they have now admitted that they were denying access to reporters who were not willing to participate in promulgating Pentagon propaganda. Stars & Stripes:
The secret profiles commissioned by the Pentagon to rate the work of journalists reporting from Afghanistan were used by military officials to deny disfavored reporters access to American fighting units or otherwise influence their coverage as recently as 2008, an Army official acknowledged Friday.What the Army and the Pentagon are looking for are propagandists, not reporters. They want people who will just regurgitate the stuff the Army puts out. What they don't want are reporters who will go look under the rocks and find out the real truth of the matter.
What’s more, the official said, Army public affairs officers used the analyses of reporters’ work to decide how to steer them away from potentially negative stories.
Maybe the Army and the Pentagon ought to dwell on what "freedom" and "liberty" are all about, for it seems that they have forgotten.
The Bush Administration had a similar policy regarding scientists employed by or contracting with the government. Hopefully, the Obama Administration will change this, but so far I don't see much reason for hope.
ReplyDeleteTo me, one of the big advantages of having freedom of speech and the press is that these make it possible to correct government error. When the government spends effort trying to make sure that doesn't happen, we have a recipe for trouble.
I was hoping for more from the Obama administration.
ReplyDeleteSame old shit.