U.S. Government

Middle East TV To Take Cues From American Cable News

The White House is dedicating $60 million to the proposed Middle East TV Network. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, a federal agency, will oversee the network, which will be headed by former CNN Washington bureau chief William Headline. "The BBG is currently doing market research in several Muslim countries that will determine the network's programming," PR Week writes. "Government officials are insisting that the network's purpose is not to influence Muslims with US propaganda, but to bring independent journalism into a region more accustomed to government-controlled press.

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The Secret Plot Against Santa Claus

The Central Intelligence Agency classified and withheld from public release a 25-year-old joke item in a weekly terrorism report about the terrorist threat to Santa Claus, notes a new report on government secrecy. "The CIA's secret Santa" leads what the report calls a "lengthy compilation of declassified documents that illustrate the arbitrary and capricious decision making that all too often characterizes the U.S.

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Totally Terrorized Information Awareness

An angry public response forced the Pentagon to publicly back away from its Total Information Awareness surveillance program. Now it's back, with one major revision: a name change. Instead of "Total Information Awareness," they're calling it "Terrorism Information Awareness." According to Washington Post correspondent Ariana Eunjung Cha, the proposed system "would have the power to track people as never before.

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The Media Monopoly

"A majority of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intends to
ratify a sweeping plan to weaken or eliminate rules that limit the size
and power of media companies," media watchdog Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting writes. Among other things, the changes would allow a company to own a newspaper and
a TV station in the same market, and would significantly increase the number
of TV stations one company can own. The FCC is scheduled to vote June 2 on the proposal.

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Keepers of Bush Image Lift Stagecraft to New Heights

"We pay particular attention to not only what the president says but what the American people see," White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett told the New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller. "Americans are leading busy lives, and sometimes they don't have the opportunity to read a story or listen to an entire broadcast.

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Private Lynch's Rescue 'Hugely Overblown'

The dramatic rescue of Private Jessica Lynch became one of the big moments of the war, but her Iraqi doctors say the rescue was staged. "We were surprised. Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital," said Dr Anmar Uday, who worked at the hospital. "It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go', with guns and blanks without bullets, blanks and the sound of explosions.

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24-Hour Mideast TV To Promote "Freedom & Democracy"

The White House expects congressional funding to the tune of $64 million for the first-ever, 24-hour Arabic-language satellite television network. "The aim is to provide the Middle East's tens of millions of viewers with an alternative to their usual viewing diet of unremediated anti-American propaganda," the Hill's Melissa Seckora reports.

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White House Denies Conflict Of Interest

When George W. Bush visited the Santa Clara production facility of United Defense last week, most reports focused on Bush's praise for the company and its products. What wasn't covered was that the maker of the Bradley fighting vehicle and the Hercules tank recovery vehicle is controlled by the Carlyle Group and that George H.W. Bush is a paid adviser to United Defense. The Corporate Crime Reporter writes that the White House denied any impropriety in Bush Jr.'s visit to the plant.

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