Fwd: //CAUGHT AGAIN-- More Lies

[Guest guest]

" luckypig "

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 15:40:06 -0500

//CAUGHT AGAIN-- More Lies

 

 

From http://www.nytimes.com

 

YES to Truth/ NO To ALL Lies.

 

Love and Light.

 

David

 

March 15, 2004

U.S. Videos, for TV News, Come Under Scrutiny

By ROBERT PEAR

 

ASHINGTON, March 14 - Federal investigators are scrutinizing television

segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists

praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help

elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.

 

The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several

include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd

cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8.

 

The materials were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services,

which called them video news releases, but the source is not identified. Two

videos end with the voice of a woman who says, " In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan

reporting. "

 

But the production company, Home Front Communications, said it had hired her

to read a script prepared by the government.

 

Another video, intended for Hispanic audiences, shows a Bush administration

official being interviewed in Spanish by a man who identifies himself as a

reporter named Alberto Garcia.

 

Another segment shows a pharmacist talking to an elderly customer. The

pharmacist says the new law " helps you better afford your medications, " and the

customer says, " It sounds like a good idea. " Indeed, the pharmacist says, " A

very good idea. "

 

The government also prepared scripts that can be used by news anchors

introducing what the administration describes as a made-for-television " story

package. "

 

In one script, the administration suggests that anchors use this language: " In

December, President Bush signed into law the first-ever prescription drug

benefit for people with Medicare. Since then, there have been a lot of questions

about how the law will help older Americans and people with disabilities.

Reporter Karen Ryan helps sort through the details. "

 

The " reporter " then explains the benefits of the new law.

 

Lawyers from the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress,

discovered the materials last month when they were looking into the use of

federal money to pay for certain fliers and advertisements that publicize the

Medicare law.

 

In a report to Congress last week, the lawyers said those fliers and

advertisements were legal, despite " notable omissions and other weaknesses. "

Administration officials said the television news segments were also a legal,

effective way to educate beneficiaries.

 

Gary L. Kepplinger, deputy general counsel of the accounting office, said, " We

are actively considering some follow-up work related to the materials we

received from the Department of Health and Human Services. "

 

One question is whether the government might mislead viewers by concealing the

source of the Medicare videos, which have been broadcast by stations in

Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states.

 

Federal law prohibits the use of federal money for " publicity or propaganda

purposes " not authorized by Congress. In the past, the General Accounting Office

has found that federal agencies violated this restriction when they disseminated

editorials and newspaper articles written by the government or its contractors

without identifying the source.

 

Kevin W. Keane, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services,

said there was nothing nefarious about the television materials, which he said

had been distributed to stations nationwide. Under federal law, he said, the

government is required to inform beneficiaries about changes in Medicare.

 

" The use of video news releases is a common, routine practice in government

and the private sector, " Mr. Keane said. " Anyone who has questions about this

practice needs to do some research on modern public information tools. "

 

But Democrats disagreed. " These materials are even more disturbing than the

Medicare flier and advertisements, " said Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat

of New Jersey. " The distribution of these videos is a covert attempt to

manipulate the press. "

 

Mr. Lautenberg, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and

seven other members of Congress requested the original review by the accounting

office.

 

In the videos and advertisements, the government urges beneficiaries to call a

toll-free telephone number, 1-800-MEDICARE. People who call that number can

obtain recorded information about prescription drug benefits if they recite the

words " Medicare improvement. "

 

Documents from the Medicare agency show why the administration is eager to

advertise the benefits of the new law, on radio and television, in newspapers

and on the Internet.

 

" Our consumer research has shown that beneficiaries are confused about the

Medicare Modernization Act and uncertain about what it means for them, " says one

document from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

 

Other documents suggest the scope of the publicity campaign: $12.6 million for

advertising this winter, $18.5 million to publicize drug discount cards this

spring, about $18.5 million this summer, $30 million for a year of beneficiary

education starting this fall and $44 million starting in the fall of 2005.

 

" Video news releases " have been used for more than a decade. Pharmaceutical

companies have done particularly well with them, producing news-style health

features about the afflictions their drugs are meant to cure.

 

The videos became more prominent in the late 1980's, as more and more

television stations cut news-gathering budgets and were glad to have packaged

news bits to call their own, even if they were prepared by corporations seeking

to sell products.

 

As such, the videos have drawn criticism from some news media ethicists, who

consider them to be at odds with journalism's mission to verify independently

the claims of corporations and governments.

 

Government agencies have also produced such videos for years, often on

subjects like teenage smoking and the dangers of using steroids. But the

Medicare materials wander into more controversial territory.

 

Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, expressed

disbelief that any television stations would present the Medicare videos as real

news segments, considering the current debate about the merits of the new law.

 

" Those to me are just the next thing to fraud, " Mr. Kovach said. " It's running

a paid advertisement in the heart of a news program. "

 

 

Jim Rutenberg contributed reporting for this article.