Submission + - Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand (nytimes.com)
gollum123 writes: "From the NyTimes, Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity of military analysts on the major networks, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin ) The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air. several dozen of the military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks. Analysts have been wooed in hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over contracting and budget matters, records show. They have been taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access. So much for objectivity in the media."
