FAKE NEWS COUPLED WITH DECEPTION IS A DISGRACEFUL USE OF TAXPAYERS' MONEY

"Congress has prohibited propaganda. . And it's propaganda." - Melanie
Sloan, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.

USA Today reported Friday that Armstrong Williams, a well-known
commentator, was being paid for his opinions by, well, by us, the American
taxpayers.

The newspaper reported Williams, one of those modern media creations who
appears in print and is omnipresent on radio and television, is being paid
by the Bush administration to the tune of $240,000 to promote the No Child
Left Behind program.

Williams said he saw how people could think the deal was unethical, but
told USA Today, "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in."

Frankly, most people could believe in the Tooth Fairy for $240,000.

We'll say this for Williams: He held his end of the bargain, tirelessly
promoting NCLB.

About the nicest thing you can say of this affair is that Williams is like
the old definition of an honest politician: "one who, when he is bought,
will stay bought."

One of the requirements was for Williams to interview Rod Paige, Education
Secretary. Williams went the extra mile, even penning a column praising
Paige for calling the National Education Association a terrorist group.

Let's be blunt: what Williams has done is unethical and quite possibly
illegal. It's the latest in a round of disingenuous approaches toward
molding public opinion hatched by this administration.

The deal was part of an arrangement with the Ketchum public relations firm,
which among other things has produced fake new reports ("video news
releases") for distribution to local television stations to pitch its
Medicare drug prescription plan.

Another recently disclosed "news report" by the Office of National Drug
Control Policy featured a pitch called "Urging Parents to Get the Facts
Straight on Teen Marijuana Use," by "reporter" Mike Morris. The Medicare
and drug pieces were distributed for use by local television stations,
which is fine. They didn't disclose that they were essentially government
press releases.

Now, the government should provide information on public health and its
policy initiatives. But if it's a good idea you shouldn't have to be
deceptive about it. Public relations should be labeled as such, not hidden
as legitimate reporting. What Williams has done would get him fired
immediately at this newspaper. We're talking fired with extreme prejudice.
Fired like, if fired out of a cannon, he'd break free of earth's orbit.

If it's fake news in fun, it's called parody. Leave that to Jon Stewart.

If it's fake news and it's deceptive, it's called propaganda. Leave that to
Pravda.

We, as citizens and taxpayers, should demand it end immediately.

And as taxpayers, we should also demand our money back.