Caught!!! Bush team hires actors to pose as journalists!

international | arts and media | news report Friday March 19, 2004 04:26 by bernie bird - news from America berniejbird at yahoo dot ie NY

Bush cronies pay $36 million so far for fake news items on Medicare Law.

On December 8th 2003, George W. Bush signed the Medicare Bill, a 10 year plan to revamp the nations prescription drug program at a projected cost of $400 billion, the costliest Bill ever to pass Congress. In the three months since, it has become apparent to the American public that the cost of this Bill was grossly underestimated, by an extra $150 billion. With growing concern and confusion over the implications of the new laws, the Department of Health responded with a public-information campaign aimed at bolstering the Bush administrations initiative.
Home Front Communications was hired to create the spin, a company long in the business of creating prescription drug 'infomercials', and two 30-second 'news segments' were produced and distributed to hundreds of tv stations. So far, at least 40 stations have aired these segments as actual news items... the 'reporters' are, however, fictitious, and the carefully crafted script is an intersting study in suggestive reasoning, with blatant ommisions, straight from the class of neuro-linguistic programming.
In one scenario, a pharmacist assists an elderly customer and explains how the "new law helps you better afford your medication." "Sounds like a good idea," says the customer. "Indeed," says the pharmacist, "a very good idea."
The 30 second piece contains no less than eight shots of President Bush, one of which is footage of the controversial leader receiving a standing ovation from the House.
The fake reporter then fronts questions, with scripted replys (read from placards), to key figures in the health industry about how the law "will help older Americans and people with disabilities."
Alarm bells first rang in Washington when no other journalists could verify who either Karen Ryan or Alberto Garcia, the supposed reporters, were. Federal law prohibits the use of taxpayers money for propoganda without being first authorized by Congress, the FBI are now investigating the videos. The cost so far for the publicity campaign has reached over $36 million, with over $100 million more budgeted over the next year.
The story of these fake news broadcasts is slow to break over here in the U.S. It raises new questions for media ethicists, the journalistic community, and even the anti-war groups, who now wonder whether there was similar government involvement behind the media bias of the run-up to the Iraq war. This time there is a paper trail, at least, that could lead to a damning indictment on the Bush administrations kamikaze economic policies as well as media distortion- it seems, in the run-up the elections later this year, that the American public is far more worried about the economy now than terrorism...
Such news should also confirm for the Indymedia community the righteousness of their cause for a media free of government or corporate influence.... keep up the good work!