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New York Times: U.S. Is Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers (12/1/05) by Jeff Gerth & Scott Shane
L.A. Times: U.S. Military Covertly Pays to Run Stories in Iraqi Press (11/30/05) by Mark Mazzetti & Borzou Daragahi.
The major dailies run with a story of continued U.S propaganda efforts including multi-million dollar contracts with PR firms that make sure articles which "present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the U.S. or Iraqi governments" are "presented in the Iraqi press as unbiased news accounts written and reported by independent journalists," when in fact they are written by U.S. military "information operations" troops.
The U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as "Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism."... The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military. The Lincoln Group's Iraqi staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets.... The military's effort to disseminate propaganda...comes as the State Department is training Iraqi reporters in basic journalism skills and Western media ethics.
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