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Originally Posted by loquitur
Host, I suspect that different people here would have different standards for what makes a source "ridiculously biased." In either direction.
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....andi I maintain that some things the pentagon and the administration are engaging in today are unprecedented in their partisanship, scope, expense to all taxpayers, and in the way they interfere with a US resident or voter's efforts to become and to stay informed.... the results of this malignancy is manifested all over this forum. It has to be called out for what it is when it shows up here.
Do you not agree that we should be discussing this problem, in view of the following, and considering that threads here are founded on articles sourced from the "process" described below, and from "
www.ufomag.com quality", "news" sites, like.....
www.worldnetdaily.com ?
Isn't it one thing to react to news reporting that contains reports that challenge your belief system, ideology, sense of fairness, or your prior sense of the details of an incident or controversy, and quite another to build a parallel "news" stream filled with fantasy that is much more to your liking?
It is being done, in the outside world, my tax dollars are used by the pentagon and by the administration to do it. I can't counter it or push back at it in the outside world, but here, in this forum, I can.
This is a process intended to serve up ridiculously biased "reporting", at taxpayer's expense. If you think the pentagon's new process and it's unprecedented treatment of the AP's Iraqi photographer is for some other intent and purpose, I'd like to read what you make of it.
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http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000587
How the Pentagon’s “Surrogates Operation” Feeds Stories to Administration-Friendly Media and Pundits
DEPARTMENT Washington Babylon
BY Ken Silverstein
PUBLISHED July 19, 2007
Earlier this week I <a href="http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000539">wrote a story</a> about a program run by the Pentagon’s Office of Public Affairs. <h2>This program seeks to bypass the mainstream press by working directly with a carefully culled list of military analysts, bloggers, and others who can be counted on to parrot the Bush Administration’s line on national security issues.....</h2>
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Quote:
http://www.ap.org/response/response_092006a.html
AP statement following Bilal Hussein's Dec. 9, 2007 court hearing in Baghdad
From Paul Colford, Director of Media Relations, The Associated Press:
Bilal Hussein and his lawyers have finally had a chance to learn about the allegations that the U.S. military has withheld from them since they imprisoned Bilal 20 months ago. But, they were not given a copy of the materials that were presented today, and which they need to prepare a defense for Bilal. We would hope that we have an opportunity to review the material. There is still no formal charge against Bilal, and The Associated Press continues to believe that Bilal Hussein was a photojournalist working in a war zone and that claims that he is involved with insurgent activities are false. Bilal continues to be detained by the U.S. military.
Because the judge ordered that the proceedings today be kept secret, we are restricted from saying anything further.
Paul Colford
Director of Media Relations
The Associated Press
450 W. 33rd St.
New York, NY 10001
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DefenseLink Blogger's Roundtable: Home Page Blogger's Roundtable
The Bloggers' Roundtable provides source material for stories in the blogosphere concerning the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Global War on Terrorism ...
www.defenselink.mil/Blogger/Blogger.aspx
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Quote:
thinkprogress.org/2007/10/25/pentagon-righty-blogs/
....<p>Another aspect of this politicization is the budding ties between the right-wing blogosphere and the military. Last October, the Pentagon announced that it was “starting an operation akin to a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/30/AR2006103001336.html">political campaign war room</a>” in order to “set the record straight” on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New teams were to “develop messages” focusing “on newer media, such as blogs.”</p>
<p>In February, the Pentagon began holding <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/Blogger/Blogger.aspx">Bloggers Roundtables</a> to “provide source material for stories in the blogosphere concerning the DoD and the Global War on Terrorism.” But at these roundtables, the Pentagon has reserved space almost exclusively for conservatives and military bloggers. Some examples of the bloggers on the roundtables just this month:</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://wizbangblog.com/">Wizbang</a><br />
<a href="http://weeklystandard.com">Weekly Standard</a><br />
<a href="http://threatswatch.org/">Threats Watch</a><br />
<a href="http://qando.net"> Qando.net</a><br />
<a href="http://uscavonpoint.com/">U.S. Cavalry On Point</a><br />
<a href="http://griffsnotesdc.blogspot.com/">Griff Jenkins</a> (Fox News anchor)<br />
<a href="http://airforcepundit.blogspot.com/">Air Force Pundit</a><br />
<a href="http://military.com">Military.com</a><br />
<a href="http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/channel_dti.jsp?channel=dti">Defense Technology International</a><br />
<a href="http://austinbay.net/about.html">Austin Bay</a></p></blockquote>
<p>When the program was started in February, the calls occurred <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/Blogger/Blogger.aspx">approximately once a week</a>; since September, the Defense Department PR team has surged the roundtables’ frequency to <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/Blogger/Blogger.aspx">nearly every day</a>. Many of these conservative bloggers <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/%20dodcmsshare/%20BloggerAssets/%202007-10/%20ROZELLE_transcript.pdf">regularly</a> <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/%20dodcmsshare/%20BloggerAssets/%202007-10/%201003_Bacon_transcript.pdf">appear</a> on the calls, receiving unfettered access to military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan. One military official explained the real <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/dodcmsshare/BloggerAssets/2007-10/1004_fakan_transcript.pdf">intent</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>[W]e’re trying to do as many of these type of blogger calls as possible <strong>to let folks know what is really going on out there</strong> and to provide the opportunity for people to hear and write about it.</p></blockquote>
<p>Despite the regular frequency of the “Blogger Roundtables,” progressive bloggers or anti-war military bloggers are rarely featured. Furthermore, small blogs like that of <a href="http://griffsnotesdc.blogspot.com/">Fox News anchor Griff Jenkins</a> are featured on the <a href="http://www.defenselink.mil/%20dodcmsshare/%20BloggerAssets/%202007-10/%20ROZELLE_transcript.pdf">calls</a> while more prominent progressive blogs are not.</p>
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