Terrorism

PR at the FBI

by John Stauber — June 4, 2002 - 10:00pm

Tompaine.com has run an opinion page advertisement in the New York Times decrying the FBI's recent PR campaign to improve its image in the wake of now public disclosures that it dropped the ball in regard to the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "Americans are entitled to a full accounting of the problems at FBI headquarters -- Who is responsible? Who will be held accountable? Using public relations tactics to change the subject and to defuse the political consequences short-circuits needed reforms and does the nation a disservice."

Main Source: 
www.tompaine.com, June 5, 2002

The FBI's Shifting Story

by Sheldon Rampton — June 2, 2002 - 10:00pm

"To fabricate an alibi for his nonfeasance, and to cover up his department's embarrassing cut of the counterterrorism budget last year, Attorney General John Ashcroft - working with his hand-picked aide, F.B.I. Director 'J. Edgar' Mueller III - has gutted guidelines put in place a generation ago to prevent the abuse of police power by the federal government," writes conservative pundit William Safire.

Main Source: 
New York Times, June 3, 2002

Axing the Tough Questions

by Sheldon Rampton — May 20, 2002 - 10:00pm

The recent disclosure that President Bush received a general warning before Sept. 11 of possible hijackings prompted a firestorm of spin. Conservative pundits and politicians fought back on cue, showing impressive message-discipline as they argued in unison that criticism of the president amounts to treason in the face of terrorism. Democrats "need to be very cautious not to seek political advantage by making incendiary suggestions," said Vice President Dick Cheney (without specifying any "incendiary suggestions" that any Democrats had actually made).

Main Source: 
Spinsanity.org, May 21, 2002

Secure Often Means Secret Post-9/11

by Sheldon Rampton — May 19, 2002 - 10:00pm

"In the eight months since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, the Bush administration has moved more quickly than any administration since World War II to make government activities, documents and other information secret," reports USA Today. "Hundreds of thousands of public documents have been removed from government Web sites. Other public information has been edited, and access to some materials has been made more difficult.

Main Source: 
USA Today, May 20, 2002

What Did the President Know, and When Did He Lie About Knowing It?

by Sheldon Rampton — May 16, 2002 - 10:00pm

"In a single day, the capital's media climate has been transformed," writes Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz. Reporters are outraged by recent revelations that President Bush received warnings prior to Sepember 11 of possible terrorist hijackings -- warnings which he has previously denied receiving.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, May 17, 2002

Here's Johnnie

by Sheldon Rampton — May 12, 2002 - 10:00pm

Johnnie Thomas, a seventy-year-old African-American woman, can't board an airplane these days without a lengthy hassle. Her name appears on a "master terrorist list" because it happens to resemble one of the aliases used by a blond, blue-eyed man accused of murdering his wife who has already been captured and is sitting in jail. She has spoken with the FBI, FAA and other government acronyms, and no one knows how to take her name off the terrorist list.

Main Source: 
New Yorker, May 13, 2002

Militarism's Lethal Logic

by Sheldon Rampton — May 9, 2002 - 10:00pm

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says it's "virtually a certainty" that terrorists will inflict "a major nuclear event" on the United States sometime soon - probably in New York or Washington. "What makes Buffett so pessimistic?" askes commentator James Pinkerton. "Maybe he read the Capitol Hill testimony of Undersecretary of State Charlotte Beers before the House Appropriations Committee on April 23." Beers wants to spend $595 million on public relations to address seething anti-U.S.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2002

Congress Told $595 Million Needed For Propaganda

by Laura Miller — April 30, 2002 - 11:00pm

U.S. Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs chief Charlotte Beers told a House subcommittee she needs $595 million to "improve and magnify the ways in which we are addressing people of the world--not necessarily other world governments--but people," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. Her request represents a five percent increase for the public diplomacy budget. "That outreach is especially targeted at 'disaffected populations' in the Middle East and South Asia, where a poor perception of the U.S.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, May 1, 2002

Coverup at the World Trade Center?

by Sheldon Rampton — April 25, 2002 - 11:00pm

In their resignation letters, the top two members of the Ombudsman Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have accused the agency of covering up the existence of deadly pollution in the area of the destroyed World Trade Center towers in New York. Emergency workers who were sent to the scene and residents of Lower Manhattan are developing serious, and in some cases, life-threatening respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Main Source: 
Environmental News Service, April 26, 2002

Beer and Terror Don't Mix (But What About Buying Gas For An SUV?)

by Laura Miller — April 21, 2002 - 11:00pm

"Take an ad suggesting that doing illegal drugs can lead to terrorism and add the word 'beer' and what do you get?" Advertising Age asks. "As the Office of National Drug Control Policy discovered some very angry beer wholesalers and brewers." The ad copy in dispute reads "Last night, I met the guys for beers, went out for dinner and helped gun down 21 men, women and children." The White House drug office says the ad is part of a series showing how illegal drugs finance terrorism and is not meant to make a connection between alcohol and illicit drugs.

Main Source: 
Reuters, April 9, 2002; Advertising Age, April 22, 2002
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