House of Reps Calls For Report on Domestic Propaganda
In April of 2008, the New York Times reported on the Pentagon’s “information apparatus that has used [retired military officers working as media analysts] in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance.” Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed legislation that requires the Defense Department’s Inspector General and the U.S. Comptroller General to report on whether the Department of Defense violated federal law in its "use of propaganda."
The legislation defines propaganda as:
Any form of communication in support of national objectives designed to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, or behavior of the people of the United States in order to benefit the sponsor, either directly or indirectly.
The Congressional Research Service released this report, Public Relations and Propaganda: Restrictions on Executive Agency Activities, in 2006. Additional coverage of the military analyst story is available here. Statements from the legislation's authors is available on the blog of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.