Administration's Two Prongs of Media Management

Two articles today point out how withholding more and more information and the increasing use of providing prepackaged video press releases disguised as new reports are being used by the Bush administration to manage the news.

The AP reported that "the percentage of requested information that is eventually released in full has been declining since 1998 at the Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Interior, State, Transportation and Treasury departments. ........At the CIA , just 12 percent of the FOIA requests processed were granted in total in 2004, down from 44 percent in 1998. The FBI gave people asking for records everything they asked for just 1 percent of the time in 2004, compared to 5 percent in 1998."

Meanwhile today's NYTimes reports how at "least 20 federal agencies have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years." The PR releases use fake reporters to present positive spins on administration activities which are often aired on TV as legitimate, independent reporting.