Pentagon P.R. = $20 Million Dollars worth

ref: WWW.DEFENSELINK.MIL

DefenseLink News: News Transcript... Q: But are you saying we've lost the PR battle against Saddam Hussein? ... Q: Butwe've lost the PR battle with our allies, as well, it seems to me. ... www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=2019 - 84k - 2006-07-26 - Cached

DefenseLink News: News Transcript... president has talked about losing the war for public opinion; the secretary has talked about it; I know the secretary's even consulted a lot of PR people in ... www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=2351 - 101k - 2006-07-26 - Cached[ More results from www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx ]

AP: Aug 31, 10:29 PM EDT
Pentagon Moves Toward Monitoring Media - [and I bet they will hire Fleishmann - Hilliard!]

MATTHEW PERRONE AP Business Writer
AP Photo/GEORGE FREY

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. command in Baghdad is seeking bidders for a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for monitoring the tone of Iraq news stories filed by U.S. and foreign media.

Proposals, due Sept. 6, ask companies to show how they'll "provide continuous monitoring and near-real time reporting of Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international, and U.S. media," according to the solicitation issued last week.

Contractors also will be evaluated on how they will provide analytical reports and customized briefings to the military, "including, but not limited to tone (positive, neutral, negative) and scope of media coverage." [for WAPO, LA TIMES, Blogs, Al Jazeera]

The winner of the contract will likely also be required to develop an Arabic version of the multinational force's web site. [Al Jazeera]

Attempts by The Associated Press to contact officials connected to the project via telephone and e-mail were not successful Thursday night.

The program comes during what has appeared to be a White House effort, before the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, to take the offensive against critics at a time of doubt about the future of Iraq.

President Bush addressed the American Legion's national convention in Salt Lake City on the issue Thursday, stressing that a U.S. pullout from iraq would lead to its conquest by America's worst enemies.

He continued a theme set by both Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when they spoke to the administration-friendly group earlier in the week.


AP VIDEO
The military last year was criticized for a public relations program in Iraq that included hiring a consulting firm that paid Iraqi news media to carry news stories written by American troops.
Pentagon officials have defended the program as a necessary tool in the war on terror. But critics have said it contradicts American values of freedom of the press

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