Support the "Stop Government Propaganda Act" in senate next week

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000778976

Senators to Introduce 'Stop Government Propaganda Act'
By Brian Orloff Published: January 27, 2005

NEW YORK In response to continued revelations of government-funded "journalism" -- ranging from the purported video news releases put out by the drug czar's office and the Department of Health and Human Services to the recently uncovered payments to columnists Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher,who flacked administration programs -- Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) will introduce a bill, The Stop Government Propaganda Act, in the Senate next week.

--snip--
The Stop Government Propaganda Act states, "Funds appropriated to an Executive branch agency may not be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States unless authorized by law."

"It's time for Congress to shut down the Administration's propaganda mill," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It has no place in the United States Government." The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.).

--snip--
According to a release, publicity or propaganda is defined in the bill as: news releases or publications that do not clearly identify the government agency responsible for the content; audio/visual or Internet presentations that do not identify the responsible government agency; any attempt to manipulate journalists or news organizations; messages created to aid a political party or candidate; messages with a "self-aggrandizing" purpose or "puffery of the Administration, agency, executive branch programs or policies or pending legislation"; and, finally, messages that are "so misleading or inaccurate that they constitute propaganda."

I assume many of you caught the incredible propaganda filled wiffle tossed to the Chimp Wednesday at the press conference by a "journalist" (Jeff Gannon) from the front organization, Talon News.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200501260015

More and more we are going to have these faux journalists feeding set up lines to the Administration, brainwashing the sheeple into believing that the Chimp is actually responding to an independant media...dog and pony show to the max. Goebbels would be proud.

He's on fire! I remember when he (a decorated WWII vet) got up in front of Congress and lambasted the Chickenhawks for their eagerness to spill blood, so long as it wasn't theirs. Complete with a picture of a chicken dressed in a uniform and a defintion of "Chickenhawk." I'd post the pic if I knew how. Help?

I have that pic, too, and I was wondering how you post a pic into a message like that. I'm not tech-savvy, obviously. How did you do that?

when you see a picture you like, just right click your mouse on it, then select "copy image location" and then bring it here and right click and select "paste". It'll paste the URL on the screen, and when you post the message, the image will appear. Happy posting!

Thanks for the help, but I'm embarrassed to admit that this isn't working for me. I have a bunch of pics saved in "my documents," but I don't get "copy image location" when I right click. Just copy, and I can't get the option to paste it here afterwards. I also can't gat "copy image location" when I right click on a pic online.

Technology hates me, that's what it is.

photobucket.com

It's free... Once you create your account, you can upload the images that you have on your computer. Once you've done that, you will be able to post pictures from your photobucket account here in DU.

I'll give that a shot. Appreciate all the help!

And a hardy welcome to DU! :toast:

Isn't this bullshit clearly illegal already? Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

How about enforcing the laws already on the books!

I would imagine this act would make grievances more specific and address current loopholes. Usually when they go this far, the laws have been found to be ineffectual.
Any Poli Sci/Govt/Law scholars out there?

Meanwhile I will dig around about that. Thanks.

If so, why not vigorously enforce them?

*rimshot*

Tax Dollars Used For Partisan Propaganda

That should piss off Americans but good .

Rest of article about this-- as they call it-- "covert propaganda" is at:

http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/05/01/ale05007.html

January 7, 2005

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing about the Administration's use of taxpayer dollars to influence public opinion. Recent investigations have revealed at least three separate instances in which the Administration has used covert propaganda to shape public perceptions.

Today, USA Today reported that "seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same." According to the article, the Department of Education paid Armstrong Williams, a conservative political commentator, to promote the No Child Left Behind Act during his broadcast television and radio shows and to encourage other prominent black journalists to take similar actions.<1>

Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that video news releases concerning the dangers of marijuana, involving actors pretending to be reporters and distributed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, were illegal "covert propaganda."<2>
Last May, GAO made a similar finding regarding video news releases that also involved fake reporters and were distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services in support of the Medicare Modernization Act. Covert propaganda to influence public opinion is unethical and dangerous. It violates fundamental principles of open government and it distorts the free press and the public's right to know. And it is illegal. GAO found that both sets of video news releases violated prohibitions against publicity and propaganda because they did not identify the federal government as the source of the fabricated news reports.

We are concerned that these three incidents, while serious and disturbing on their own, may not be isolated incidents but rather a deliberate pattern of behavior by your Administration to deceive the public and the media in an effort to further your policy objectives.
We ask you to publicly renounce the use of covert propaganda to influence public opinion. And in furtherance of official congressional oversight, we request that you direct all department and agency heads to immediately provide to us all past and ongoing efforts to engage in covert propaganda, whether through contracts with commentators, the distribution of video news releases, or other means.

Sincerely,

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Minority Member, Government Reform Committee
Rep. David R. Obey, Ranking Minority Member, Appropriations Committee
Rep. George Miller, Ranking Minority Member, Education and the Workforce Committee
Rep. Elijah Cummings, Outgoing Chairman, Congressional Black Caucus, and Ranking Member Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee