Ethics Newsline®

WASHINGTON
Rejecting criticism that public relations pieces designed to look like genuine television news reports are unethical, the Bush administration last week said it will continue making and distributing video news releases, and that it is the responsibility of television stations to inform viewers of the source of the videos.

Last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’s nonpartisan investigative arm, again warned that such releases may cross the line into illegal “covert propaganda” if funded with taxpayer dollars.

The releases in question mostly include video segments featuring pseudo reporters who pose rehearsed questions to officials and praise government programs without addressing criticisms or problems.

While the exterior packaging discloses the government’s role, the videos themselves often omit the disclosure, leading viewers to believe they are watching news from an objective source, noted the New York Times.

Last week, the Justice Department issued a memo directing government agencies to ignore the GAO’s warnings, saying it does not agree “that the covert propaganda prohibition applies simply because an agency’s role in producing and disseminating information is undisclosed or ‘covert,’ regardless of whether the content of the message is ‘propaganda.’”

The Justice Department memo also said the GAO’s ruling is unenforceable, noting that only its own Office of Legal Counsel provides binding legal interpretations, according to the Times.

President Bush last week agreed, saying his administration would continue making video news releases, which he defended as factually based and unbiased, even if their provenance remains undisclosed.

The government contends that its packaging provides sufficient disclosure, saying the blame lies with local TV stations that fail to tell viewers when the fake news segments are coming from the government.

GAO Comptroller David Walker last week faulted the administration for adopting a legalistic, compliance-based approach that sidelines the ethical aspects of providing fake news segments to the public.

“This is more than a legal issue. It’s also an ethical issue and involves important good government principles, namely the need for openness in connection with government activities and expenditures,” Walker told the Washington Post. “We should not just be seeking to do what’s arguably legal. We should be doing what’s right.”

Noting the administration’s argument that its actions are within legal bounds, Walker said the battle likely will be taken up elsewhere. “Congress has got to settle it — either Congress or the courts,” he said.