Just doing what everyone else is doing

The NY Times had a great piece on government propaganda this weekend. Most blog readers know the issue--video pieces released by the government designed to sell the administration's views and programs but look like news. It's not a new problem. Clinton's watch saw many of the same techniques, but efforts have been stepped up under W's administration.

The article is good even if you know the parameters of the problem. The bit about the State Department's Office of Broadcasting Services' efforts to "counter charges of American imperialism by generating accounts that emphasized American efforts to liberate and rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq" is just a little too Ministry of Truth for my tastes, but then I'm hopelessly old fashioned.

Here's a choice excerpt:

Karen Ryan cringes at the phrase "covert propaganda." These are words for dictators and spies, and yet they have attached themselves to her like a pair of handcuffs.

Not long ago, Ms. Ryan was a much sought-after "reporter" for news segments produced by the federal government. A journalist at ABC and PBS who became a public relations consultant, Ms. Ryan worked on about a dozen reports for seven federal agencies in 2003 and early 2004. Her segments for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of National Drug Control Policy were a subject of the accountability office's recent inquiries.

The G.A.O. concluded that the two agencies "designed and executed" their segments "to be indistinguishable from news stories produced by private sector television news organizations." A significant part of that execution, the office found, was Ms. Ryan's expert narration, including her typical sign-off - "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting" - delivered in a tone and cadence familiar to television reporters everywhere.

"I just don't feel I did anything wrong," she said. "I just did what everyone else in the industry was doing."

Oh deep and heavy sigh. Was I the only person raised by parents who drilled the mantra into my head "if everyone was jumping in the lake would you?" For god's sake. (Thanks to McD for the forward.)