FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    Contact: Adriana Surfas
Monday, April 28, 2008                         (202) 225-3661    

Pentagon Suspends Propaganda Program

DeLauro Leading Coalition in Demanding Investigation

Washington , D.C. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) issued the following statement regarding the Pentagon’s announcement that it is suspending its briefings for retired military officers who serve as military analysts for radio and TV news shows. DeLauro has been pressing the television news networks for answers regarding their standards for military analysts (click here to view the letters to the heads of ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News Channel) and will be questioning the activities of the Department of Defense Inspector General in a forth-coming letter.  A recent New York Times investigation revealed that the Pentagon had developed a propaganda program to use former military officers to “shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.”

“This secretive propaganda program that the Pentagon created to give military analysts special access in exchange for positive coverage of the Iraq War should never have been created, but once revealed, I was pleased to work in concert with my colleagues to place pressure on the Defense Department to force it to cease its activities.  

“Now that the program has been halted, we must take the next steps to determine how high-ranking officials within the Pentagon were allowed to operate a program aimed at deceiving the American people.  That is why I will be sending a letter this week with my colleagues to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to learn whether they were aware of this program and to call on them to launch an investigation.  In the United States of America we expect better.

“The American people also deserve answers from the major television news networks regarding their conflict of interest policies. Incidences such as this one only serve to erode their credibility with the American people. By strengthening their standards the news outlets will restore their trustworthiness and prevent the use of the public airways to disseminate state sponsored propaganda.”  

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www.house.gov/delauro