Andrew Bolt eat your heart out
December 01, 2005 - Pay for Play Back for A Second Run in Baghdad
I could not believe my eyes this morning when I read the headline in the New York Times, "U.S. Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers." In an article by Jeff Gerth and Scott Shane, the paper says a Washington-based public relations firm, the Lincoln Group, is "paying newspapers to print government propaganda...and has paid about a dozen Iraqi journalists each several hundred dollars a month because their past coverage has not been antagonistic to the United States."
How does this work exactly? According to the paper, the Pentagon delivers "storyboards" to the PR firm in Washington with stories it wants placed in Iraqi media. Then, says the Los Angeles Times, the Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff or subcontractors "sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets." To be specific, an August 2 article in the independent Addustour newspaper titled "More Money Goes to Iraq's Development" appeared under the descriptor "Media Services" (as if it came from Wire Services) when in fact the paper received $1,500 from the Lincoln Group.
So who are these people from the Lincoln Group? The web site, Lincolngroup.com, describes the firm as "a strategic communications and public relations firm providing insight and influence in challenging and hostile environments." The firm claims to marry Madison Avenue (home of advertising) with Pennsylvania Avenue (the main street in Washington).
And what was their assignment? According to the Washington Post in June, 2005, the Pentagon "awarded three contracts this week, potentially worth up to $300 million over five years to three companies, SY Coleman of Arlington, VA., Lincoln Group in Washington DC and Science Applications International Corp. to develop ideas and prototypes for radio and television spots, documentaries, text messages, pop up ads on the Internet, podcasting, billboards or novelty items. Said Col. James A Treadwell, director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element, part of the Tampa, Florida based US Special Operations Command, "If you want to influence someone, you have to touch their emotions."
And what was the intellectual basis for the assignment? According to the NY Times," given a fundamental problem of credibility and foreign opposition to American policies," a special report from the Defense Science Board "recommended turning more often for help to the private sector, which has a built-in agility, credibility and even deniability."
And what was the response yesterday from Lincoln? "We believe it is necessary to counter the misinformation put out by our adversaries. Trying to get out accurate information is an important part of what the US needs to do to show our side of the story," said Laurie Adler, director of marketing, communications and government relations at Lincoln.
If Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is sincere about his comments this Tuesday, citing the development of a free media and proliferation of news organizations in Iraq as "one of the great successes since the ouster of President Saddam Hussein, then the Defense Department is undermining the very progress it is touting. A senior Pentagon official quoted in the LA Times said it best, "Here we are trying to create the principles of democracy in Iraq. Every speech we give in that country is about democracy. And we're breaking all of the first principles of democracy when we're doing it (planting stories)."
This is utterly unacceptable behavior. In no way does this describe public relations. It is pay for play and a PR firm based in the US is doing it. Advertising and public relations are not the same thing. We don't do storyboards. We don't buy space. We don't pay journalists to be on our side. We don't fake out media by pretending that we don't know much about our client, working under cover of night. We don't say that there is only one side to a story. If a free media is a central aspect of a democratic society, then we cannot allow our PR industry to impede its development. It is a perversion of our business, an intentional blurring of a clear demarcation between paid and earned media. We should advise our clients, private sector and governmental, that trust is earned through transparency, continuous communication and dialogue. Let me hear your thoughts on this important matter.
PR Firm Edelman's CEO Richard Edelman.
I could not believe my eyes this morning when I read the headline in the New York Times, "U.S. Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers." In an article by Jeff Gerth and Scott Shane, the paper says a Washington-based public relations firm, the Lincoln Group, is "paying newspapers to print government propaganda...and has paid about a dozen Iraqi journalists each several hundred dollars a month because their past coverage has not been antagonistic to the United States."
How does this work exactly? According to the paper, the Pentagon delivers "storyboards" to the PR firm in Washington with stories it wants placed in Iraqi media. Then, says the Los Angeles Times, the Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff or subcontractors "sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets." To be specific, an August 2 article in the independent Addustour newspaper titled "More Money Goes to Iraq's Development" appeared under the descriptor "Media Services" (as if it came from Wire Services) when in fact the paper received $1,500 from the Lincoln Group.
So who are these people from the Lincoln Group? The web site, Lincolngroup.com, describes the firm as "a strategic communications and public relations firm providing insight and influence in challenging and hostile environments." The firm claims to marry Madison Avenue (home of advertising) with Pennsylvania Avenue (the main street in Washington).
And what was their assignment? According to the Washington Post in June, 2005, the Pentagon "awarded three contracts this week, potentially worth up to $300 million over five years to three companies, SY Coleman of Arlington, VA., Lincoln Group in Washington DC and Science Applications International Corp. to develop ideas and prototypes for radio and television spots, documentaries, text messages, pop up ads on the Internet, podcasting, billboards or novelty items. Said Col. James A Treadwell, director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element, part of the Tampa, Florida based US Special Operations Command, "If you want to influence someone, you have to touch their emotions."
And what was the intellectual basis for the assignment? According to the NY Times," given a fundamental problem of credibility and foreign opposition to American policies," a special report from the Defense Science Board "recommended turning more often for help to the private sector, which has a built-in agility, credibility and even deniability."
And what was the response yesterday from Lincoln? "We believe it is necessary to counter the misinformation put out by our adversaries. Trying to get out accurate information is an important part of what the US needs to do to show our side of the story," said Laurie Adler, director of marketing, communications and government relations at Lincoln.
If Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is sincere about his comments this Tuesday, citing the development of a free media and proliferation of news organizations in Iraq as "one of the great successes since the ouster of President Saddam Hussein, then the Defense Department is undermining the very progress it is touting. A senior Pentagon official quoted in the LA Times said it best, "Here we are trying to create the principles of democracy in Iraq. Every speech we give in that country is about democracy. And we're breaking all of the first principles of democracy when we're doing it (planting stories)."
This is utterly unacceptable behavior. In no way does this describe public relations. It is pay for play and a PR firm based in the US is doing it. Advertising and public relations are not the same thing. We don't do storyboards. We don't buy space. We don't pay journalists to be on our side. We don't fake out media by pretending that we don't know much about our client, working under cover of night. We don't say that there is only one side to a story. If a free media is a central aspect of a democratic society, then we cannot allow our PR industry to impede its development. It is a perversion of our business, an intentional blurring of a clear demarcation between paid and earned media. We should advise our clients, private sector and governmental, that trust is earned through transparency, continuous communication and dialogue. Let me hear your thoughts on this important matter.
PR Firm Edelman's CEO Richard Edelman.
posted by professor rat at 9:20 AM
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