Nbadan
10-11-2004, 02:27 PM
Why does the Bush administration have contempt for federal law?
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has promoted its education law with a video that comes across as a news story but fails to make clear the reporter involved was paid with taxpayer money.
The government used a similar approach this year in promoting the new Medicare law and drew a rebuke from the investigative arm of Congress, which found the videos amounted to propaganda in violation of federal law.
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Those are the same features — including the voice of Karen Ryan — that were prominent in videos the Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Department used to promote the Medicare law and were judged covert propaganda by the Government Accountability Office in May.
The Education Department's video uses "the same exact mode of operation," said Nancy Keenan, education policy director at People for the American Way. The video encourages students to take advantage of tutoring and says that families give the idea an "A-plus."
.........
Government press offices play a key role in sharing information and pitching story ideas, but sending out videos featuring "pretend" news reports is wrong, said Al Tompkins, who teaches broadcast reporting at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists.
"Let the alert be loud and clear: Don't use this stuff," Tompkins said.
Yahoo (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20041010/ap_on_el_pr/school_ads)
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has promoted its education law with a video that comes across as a news story but fails to make clear the reporter involved was paid with taxpayer money.
The government used a similar approach this year in promoting the new Medicare law and drew a rebuke from the investigative arm of Congress, which found the videos amounted to propaganda in violation of federal law.
..........
Those are the same features — including the voice of Karen Ryan — that were prominent in videos the Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Department used to promote the Medicare law and were judged covert propaganda by the Government Accountability Office in May.
The Education Department's video uses "the same exact mode of operation," said Nancy Keenan, education policy director at People for the American Way. The video encourages students to take advantage of tutoring and says that families give the idea an "A-plus."
.........
Government press offices play a key role in sharing information and pitching story ideas, but sending out videos featuring "pretend" news reports is wrong, said Al Tompkins, who teaches broadcast reporting at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists.
"Let the alert be loud and clear: Don't use this stuff," Tompkins said.
Yahoo (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20041010/ap_on_el_pr/school_ads)