By Kenneth J. Theisen, 11/2/06
A recent effort of the Bush administration has gotten very little media coverage even though it is directed at the media. The U.S. Department of Defense has initiated a new propaganda effort to attack news stories critical of the Bush regime. Among its efforts is the creation of new section on the Pentagon’s website, called FOR THE RECORD. (www.defenselink.mil) This section currently features pieces attacking various news organizations” stories such as those in the New York Times, Newsweek, Associated Press, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Seattle Times, and the San Jose Mercury News. The Pentagon is also sending letters to the editor and op-ed pieces to these various news outlets in order to both intimidate the media and to spread its propaganda.
The Bush regime has a long history of attempting to control the media and this is just the latest effort. From the Department of Justice investigations into leaks of stories such as the NSC’s vast wiretapping, to jailing reporters, to planting stories in the Iraqi media, to bombing the Iraq headquarters of Al Jazeera, the regime has spared no effort to bury the first amendment’s guarantee of a free press.