Lincoln Group (propaganda machine in Iraq) employs Fox News contributor

Lincoln Group, the firm responsible for the Pentagon’s covert propaganda operations in Iraq, employs an advisor you may know: Fox News contributor Bill Cowan.


http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/01/lincoln-group/

During a news break in the middle of last night's Hannity & Colmes, Uma Pemmaraju and Steve Centanni reported on the recent revelation that the U.S. military is paying Iraqi newspapers to run pro-American stories disguised as news. They're a perfect example of propaganda but Pemmaraju described them as "positive articles about progress" in Iraq while Centanni called them "favorable articles."

.......
That might raise concerns in those of us who thought we were supposed to be spreading democracy in Iraq but FOX News seemed to bend over backwards to gloss over the controversy. Centanni sugarcoated the operation by reporting it as "a way to counter the misinformation put out by the insurgency." What misinformation is being put out and how? He didn't say. Instead, he quoted a military spokesperson as saying, "There is a group of Americans that writes articles for Iraqi papers" as if they were simply a bunch of freelance journalists rather than paid disseminators.

Reinforcing that impression, the chyron at the bottom of the screen read, "U.S. Military providing news stories to Iraqi media."

Also not mentioned was the fact that FOX News Contributor Bill Cowan is an advisor to the aforementioned contractor involved in the operation.

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/12/01/fox_news_propaganda_about_the_propaganda.php



http://www.newshounds.us/2005/12/01/fox_news_propaganda_about_the_propaganda.php

The LA Times reported today that

"As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq." <...> "Many of the articles are presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists. The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country.

Though the articles are basically factual, they present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the U.S. or Iraqi governments, officials said."


Sound familiar?

Shepard Smith briefly reported about this article on this evening's Fox Report, just several sentences. What was absent was this, from the article:


The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military. The Pentagon has a contract with a small Washington-based firm called Lincoln Group, which helps translate and place the stories. The Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets.

If you check out www.lincolngroup.com you'll find that one of their advisors is Bill Cowan, FOX News Contributor. Cowan is often cited on FOX as a military expert and analyst, but we were never told that one of his specialties is psy-ops propaganda. Regular viewers and readers will recall him as hawkish (he is, after all, military first) and supportive of both the war in Iraq and the administration. One could speculate that he is engaged by Fox for the same purpose in the US as he advises about in Iraq. Fox has been at the forefront of selling first the invasion and then "Happy Iraq" in the US media for over three years now.



http://www.newshounds.us/2005/11/30/us_military_plants_propaganda_in_iraq_fox_news_contributor_bill_cowan_advisor.php

Are they either retired DOD guys or young GOP just trying to get their feet wet in the greed market? Always seem to be either one of those in the middle of the slime.:evilgrin:

Rupert Murdoch, you miserable sunovabitch, c'mon, you know the money's no longer on the GOP. Switch sides already, you freak!

And there's nobody as expert in propagandizing people as Fox News!

I saw a little coverage of this story today, on CNN and MSNBC. What amazed me was, out of all the commentators, even Ron Reagan didn't bring up the fact that this paid-propaganda-masquerading-as-news has been done HERE IN THE U.S. for years, by the * administration. Armstrong Williams. Jeff Gannon. Judith Miller. Bob Woodward. And on and on and on--we have yet to know just how many "journalists" are on the take from this foul mis-administration.

but they've been doing this for decades and bringing down governments elected by majorities across the globe. What's even more amusing to be is it is no different from Judith Miller or the rest of the gang.

It's all out in the open now though. There is no way to hide these lies and when this and the Al Jazeera 'memo' are put side by side, this entire war and the so called march to democracy is one unbelievable pack of lies. But that is not news to anyone here. We knew that.

Watching these liars being exposed day by day is the stuff of dreams.