Bush administration engaging in "covert propaganda."

If you thought bribing "journalists" was bad, then you'll really cringe at how gov't agencies have been literally producing their own coverage themselves and handing it out to affiliates to be presented as real journalism. Plus they've concocted a system of laundering their propaganda, so that it looks like independent journalism to the unsuspecting eye.

The tax-payer funded propaganda scandal surrounding Bush has just gotten worse. The agencies have done more than just buy off journalists, they've taken to completely producing the "news" itself. They create the video segments, often hiding the real identities of the participants and rehearsing the interviews, and then send them to the targeted news affiliates. And the affiliates run them as-is because it's cheaper and easier than doing any work themselves.

According to the Government Accounting Office, this is not only unethical, it is illegal. Three times they refered to Bush-produced segments as "covert propaganda."

The real issue at the heart of this goes beyond just a dictatorial presidency. It is a reflection on the corrosive, subversive, destructive nature of unrestrained capitalism.

Democracy depends on an informed electorate making rational choices. This information comes primarily from the news media. When the news media becomes corrupted, and loses focus of its role in society, democracy breaks down under the weight of misinformation. Media companies are eagerly complicit with Bush's enhanced propaganda schemes because they are openly driven purely by the PROFIT motive. Replacing costly investigative journalism with pre-packaged propaganda is simply good for the bottom line. The ramifications upon democracy is of no consequence.

I know we all love making some profit ourselves. But when even the TRUTH is for sale, then we need to rethink our values. Some things are just too important to freedom and democracy to be left to profiteering.