WASHINGTON, February 07,
2005 (AP) - The Pentagons chief investigator is looking into the
militarys practice of paying journalists to write articles and commentary for a
Web site aimed at influencing public opinion in the Balkans, officials said
Friday. At the request of Larry Di Rita, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld, the Pentagons inspector general, Joseph Schmitz, is
reviewing that case and also looking more broadly at Pentagon activities that
might involve inappropriate payments to journalists.
The Balkans Web site, called Southeast European Times, as well as a
second aimed at audiences in North Africa, have no immediately obvious
connection to the U.S. government but contain a linked disclaimer that says they
are sponsored by the U.S. European Command. That is the military organization
based in Germany responsible for U.S. forces and military activitie s in Europe
and parts of Africa. The second site, called Magharebia and aimed at the Maghreb
region that encompasses Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia, is
still in development and has not reached the stage of having paid
correspondents, said Air Force Lt. Col. Derek Kaufman, a European Command
spokesman.
Both sites carry news stories compiled
from The Associated Press, Reuters and other news organizations. The Pentagons
role in these Web sites was first reported by CNN on Thursday. The Balkans Web
site also has articles and commentary by about 50 journalists who Kaufman said
are paid by European Command through a private contractor, Anteon Corp., an
information technology company based in Fairfax, Va.
The Web sites are examples of what the military calls information
operations, or programs designed to influence public opinion by countering what
the Pentagon considers to be misinformation or lies that circulate in the
international news media. The Pentagons use of the Web sites has raised
questions about blurring the lines between legitimate news and what some would
call government propaganda. The Balkans site grew out of the U.S. air war
against Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in 1999, Kaufman said. It sought to
counter what U.S. officials considered a Serb propaganda machine that made
effective use of the Internet.The site aimed at North Africa was started in
October 2004 and is a new weapon in the global war on terror.
This specifically is trying to reach a youthful audience that is
potentially ripe for extremist messages and terrorist recruitment, Kaufman
said. Its very much an effort to provide a voice of moderation, but its not
disinformation. Every printed word is the truth. Journalists identities not
disclosed Kaufman said information warfare experts at European Command do not
edit the stories written by contributing journal ists for Southeast European
Times, but they review the stories after they are processed by Anteon editors,
and they sometimes change the headlines. He cited as an example a proposed
headline that originally read, Croatian Prime Minister Remembers Holocaust
Victims, which European Command changed to Croatian Prime Minister Remarks on
Dangers of Extremism, which Kaufman said more closely reinforced the U.S.
message.
About 50 paid correspondents contribute to
Southeast European Times, including one American journalist based in Sarajevo,
Bosnia, Kaufman said. Another European Command spokesman, Air Force Maj. Sarah
Strachan, said many of the journalists work primarily for news organizations,
although she said the details of those employers could not be provided for
privacy reasons. In a letter Thursday to the Pentagon inspector general, Di Rita
asked for a comprehensive review in light of recent disclosures that other
government agencies paid journalists to promote administration policies.
I have no reason to believe there might be a
problem, Di Rita wrote, but he said a review was called for in view of the
Defense Departments size and its complex budgeting structure. Without
mentioning him by name, Di Rita alluded to the case of commentator Armstrong
Williams, who was hired by the Education Department -- through a contract with a
public relations firm -- to produce ads that featured former Education Secretary
Rod Paige and promoted President Bushs No Child Left Behind law. Two other
cases of columnists being paid to help promote administration policies have come
to light in recent weeks, and Bush said Jan. 26 that the practice must stop.
It would be most helpful to review activities going
back six to eight years, as I assume many existing relationships have continued
for that many years or longer, Di Rita wrote, noting the Southeast European
Times operation. It would be appropriate to review that activity and others
like it. It was not clear Friday whether other U.S. military commands have
similar Web operations. Navy Capt. Hal Pittman, the chief spokesman at Central
Command, responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central
Asia, said, Were reviewing the utility of this kind of Web
site.