Lincoln Green

U.S. pays millions to have stories planted in Iraqi papers - New York Times
The Lincoln Group, a Washington-based PR firm, is being paid by the Pentagon to translate articles prepared by the U.S. military into Arabic and submit them to Iraqi newspapers or advertising agencies without revealing the Pentagon's role, report Jeff Gerth and Scott Shane. The Lincoln Group is also paying about a dozen Iraqi journalists each several hundred dollars a month to write stories. The journalists were chosen because their past coverage hasn't been antagonistic to the United States. (Related letter from Bob Bateman.)
> Pentagon rep: "Some things about it, if true, are a bit troubling" (WP)

PR man Edelman blasts Pentagon's propaganda campaign
Edelman.com
Edelman CEO Richard Edelman says the Pentagon's use of the Lincoln Group to place positive stories in Iraqi newspapers "is utterly unacceptable behavior." He writes: "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. ... 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."
> U.S. paid Baghdad Press Clubbers up to $200/month for puff pieces (KR) POYNTERS