Diane Farsetta's News Articles

The Devil Is in the Lack of Details: The Defense Department's Media Contracts

by Diane Farsetta — February 21, 2006 - 5:02pm
  • Topics: Democracy, Ethics, Propaganda, Public Relations, U.S. Government, War / Peace

    • Although they've done their best to keep their spinning from public scrutiny, several major incidents have exposed the Bush administration's manipulation of news media: The "sell job" for the invasion of Iraq. Payola pundits Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus. Stooge "reporter" Jeff Gannon / James Guckert. Video news releases determined to be covert propaganda by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO).

    "True Spin": An Oxymoron or a Lofty Goal?

    by Diane Farsetta — February 13, 2006 - 5:50pm
  • Topics: Left Wing, Activism, Journalism, Public Relations

    • "Officials from giant corporations meet all the time to share their latest and greatest PR strategies," read the conference website. "Now it's our turn."

    On February 2 and 3, some 180 people attended the True Spin Conference in Denver, Colorado, which was billed as "a PR conference for progressives." The event was organized by CauseCommunications, a small Denver PR firm whose clients have included Ben Cohen's Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, Winona LaDuke's Honor the Earth, and The Progressive magazine.

    It Was a Very False Year: The 2005 Falsies Awards

    by Diane Farsetta — January 3, 2006 - 1:46pm
  • Topics: Activism, Democracy, Media, Public Relations

    • As Father Time faded into history with the end of 2005, he was spinning out of control.

    Over the past twelve months, the ideal of accurate, accountable, civic-minded news media faced nearly constant attack. Fake news abounded, from Pentagon-planted stories in Iraqi newspapers to corporate- and government-funded video news releases aired by U.S. newsrooms. Enough payola pundits surfaced to constitute their own basketball team -- Doug Bandow, Peter Ferrara, Maggie Gallagher, Michael McManus and Armstrong Williams. (They could call themselves the "Syndicated Shills.")

    USAID in Indonesia: Expecting Waves of Gratitude

    by Diane Farsetta — December 20, 2005 - 4:15pm
  • Topics: Public Diplomacy, International, Religion, U.S. Government

    • In September 2005, long-time Bush confidante Karen Hughes started her new job as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Her first official week of work was admittedly ambitious -- a "listening tour" of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

    One Step Forward (But Two Back) in the Fight Against Fake News

    by Diane Farsetta — October 21, 2005 - 6:30pm
  • Topics: Activism, Video News Releases, Politics, U.S. Government

    • "Myself and others felt violated by the first bill," said Doug Simon, the founder, president and CEO of D S Simon Productions, a major producer of the faux television news reports known as video news releases (VNRs).

    Simon was referring to the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967). In its original incarnation, this bill would have required a "conspicuous" disclosure to accompany any government-produced or -funded prepackaged VNR or the radio equivalent, an audio news release (ANR).

    The Emperor Doesn't Disclose: Why the Fight Against Fake News Continues

    by Diane Farsetta — October 11, 2005 - 1:57pm
  • Topics: Third Party Technique, Video News Releases, Media, Propaganda, U.S. Government

    • Like much news that's damaging to the Bush administration, the report came out on a Friday.

    Since then, it's gotten little media attention -- just 41 mentions in U.S. newspapers and wire stories, according to a news database search on October 11. That's remarkably sparse coverage for a story showing that the U.S. government has been engaged in illegal propaganda aimed at its own citizens.

    The Wave of the Future: From Tragedy to Far-Reaching Policy, in Less Than a Month

    by Diane Farsetta — September 22, 2005 - 12:17pm
  • Topics: Politics, Race / Ethnic Issues, Think Tanks, U.S. Government

    • "Maybe something good can come from this hurricane," Senator Lindsey Graham (R - S.C.) told FOX News Sunday's Chris Wallace on September 18th.

    Graham and Wallace were discussing the "torrent of federal spending" on relief and reconstruction projects in the Gulf coast states devastated by Hurricane Katrina that is "just exploding the deficit" (both Wallace's phrases). The Senator was advocating for budget cuts to balance the disaster spending, which is expected to total as much as $200 billion.

    The Cows Have Come Home

    by Diane Farsetta — September 7, 2005 - 9:25am
  • Topics: Mad Cow Disease, Corporations

    • Note: This article was written for CorpWatch, and also appears on their website.

    Earlier this summer in Minnesota, the well-dressed woman walked briskly across the front of the red brick classroom and up to the microphone. The moderator smiled and nodded in her direction. Looking down at her notes, she began. "Good afternoon. Thanks for holding this session. And while we are here in this room discussing this important issue, 200 people in Gering, Nebraska, are looking for new jobs. Their packing plant closed this week because they could not source enough cattle due to the embargo."

    America's Army Fights Back: The PR Plan for the Pentagon's "Demonstration Village"

    by Diane Farsetta — August 24, 2005 - 9:17am
  • Topics: Human Rights, International, Public Relations, War / Peace

    • Sometimes even the slickest public relations effort doesn't improve a person's or an institution's image. Think of the U.S. State Department's $15 million "Shared Values" ad campaign, which tried to assuage anti-American sentiment in Muslim countries.

    Surveying the Fake News Scene

    by Diane Farsetta — July 13, 2005 - 8:56am
  • Topics: Activism, Media, Public Relations

    • What do you think about fake news? That's what the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has been asking our readers for the past two weeks.

    We surveyed people about what the disclosure guidelines should be for video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs). (We do define "fake news" more broadly, as not just TV and radio segments provided by outside parties, but also pundit payola and any other media manipulation falsely presented as independent journalism. However, brevity is the soul of good survey response rates!)

    Syndicate content