Pentagon hired PR firm to provide blog content

William Arkin of the Washington Post is reporting today that the Pentagon has hired PR firm Hass MS&L to offer:

"exclusive editorial content" to blogs willing to run government propaganda.

Rather than rely on the organic words of soldiers blogging from Iraq, the Army has decided perspective needs a shot in the arm.

[T]he "content" under discussion, an Army public affairs officer tells me, is not the nitty gritty of deployments and living conditions overseas. It is planned to be an official counter to the perceived unwillingness of the mainstream media to report the "good news" from Iraq and the war on terror.

Looks like everyone's fed up with the MSM. And that's with a percentage of the MSM actually being owned by companies that have a big interest in "good news".

But why would soldiers blogging need to add content prepared by a PR firm under contract with the Pentagon?

I believe there is a lot of good news. Anyone who wants to provide this in their blogs does and will. Why would the Pentagon need to inject a corporate polished perspective into what is mostly considered an organic medium of expression?

If there is good news, doesn't it stand to reason that it will be presented in the blogosphere? Why would they need to create it? Will Hass MS&L create actual bloggers? Fictitious entities blogging out polished propaganda?

Blogs, however, are the epitome of independence, perspective, and rebellion. For the Army to blog, its bloggers would need to have an opinion, show some emotion, make a joke, make a case. We all know that the moment some public affairs flunkie strayed from the official happy talk and openly engaged in the information fight, he or she would get nuked. 

So, our tax dollars are going to get used so the Army can just add to its propaganda machine, shoveling "content" to like-minded bloggers? It all smacks of just another losing PR effort by a desperate team who seems to think that the only way it is going to get good press is to buy it or plant it.

Looks that way. Can't say I am really surprised, but quite frankly, I think it's a bogus expenditure of money, regardless of how much or little it is. And what kind of blogger is going to need the full resources of a PR firm?

I'm not sure if there are any examples out there yet of this actual content, and I doubt it will be labeled anyway, but I can think of at least one place to start looking.

•  I laugh at people

  Who put up Blogs to disseminate top-down information.  These people don't even understand what blogs are.  The less they are populist powered the less they are visited because people like to contribute.

  Even Red-State is more plausible than a White House blog.  However, Kos is getting more traffic than the 5 most visited conservative blogs in existence.  

  Kinda shows you that the people on board the Fascist train don't need to waste their time on a blog.  Just get the talking points from an email list; its more efficient.

  by TalkieToaster on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 01:18:29 PM PDT

  •  Aren;t they saying that they will offer

    content to blogs, not put up blogs themselves?
    And what might be the vehicle of that content? seemingly legitimate commentators! In fact I have been having suspicions about many of the borderline trolls who suddenly have begun appearing even on this site recently - I could take a bet there's atleast 1 Pentagon guy visiting if not commenting on this site!

    by LibertyGuard on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 01:29:20 PM PDT

    •  Thank you very much, this is a no spin zone..

      I have noticed some very informed people here all of sudden..Keep this in mind people..Wonder how much of our money is being wasted to try force us to think like them..They just dont get it..Bush says same old crap over and over , lies and more lies,you can bet some will be spread around here..We will investigate for ourselves thank you very much..

      by bayside on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 01:58:19 PM PDT

      •  watch for very thin tin foil diaries

        & posts tring to get us to waste time . keep your foil thick .

        by cognitive dissonance on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 04:07:38 PM PDT

    •  There are probably..,

      Pentagon guys watching CIA guys watching FBI guys.

      by irate on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 02:00:00 PM PDT

  •  WAIIT......waaaaaaiit

    not so fast.

    I'll open a blog and post those crapola propaganda. How much are they paying anyway?

    and I got an army of people in India and china who will click on those crappy propaganda too.

    (translation, obviously those dumbfucks at pentagon wasn't awake during the dot.com boom time. where THE EXACT same problem of "content vs. viewership" was debated.)

    NEWSFLASH to THE MORONS in charge at Pentagon.

    Stick with that cheap zarqawi schtick, they are cheaper than paying bloggers. half entertaining and save tax money too.

    You know, if any pentagon people actually "blog" and tell the idiotic process that give birth to 'Invasion and occupation' of Iraq, ...

    You can pay the Iraq war TWICE over from the entertaining revenue and ads.

    We love watching morons confessing.

    by fugue on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 02:40:07 PM PDT

•  so that who all those "people" on f.r.

  are . they are here , there & everywhere , bet on it  .

  by cognitive dissonance on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 01:35:57 PM PDT

•  The DOD is stupid. Or else:

  1. The PR company needs a contract.
     
  2. Even Drudge can't bring himself to carry the water anymore.
     
  3. Recruitment is down, and DOD has intercepted "noise" about a relentless, all-night ops team known as the 101st Fighting Keyboarders.

  by highfive on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 01:50:25 PM PDT

  •  lol

    yeah,

    pretty soon, every wingnut blogger will demand 'goodies' and payment to carry their propaganda.

    Welcome to market economy.  (Remember those smart Iraqis reporter that wants payment to carry pentagon propaganda? pretty soon wingnuts keyboard militia will demand the same thing too.)

    by fugue on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 02:43:13 PM PDT

•  I think

  I think the DOD is so clueless, as usual,that they can do this "blog" thing and crate a positive spin. They are so clueless as to what they are up against.

   I wouldn't put it past them to hire firms to sent bloggers to sites like this just to put the DOD spin on things. Not understanding that such shills will be revealed and torn apart in a matter of minutes.

   Basically, the DOD, doesn't like smart people talking amongst themselves.

  by threecents on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 02:16:34 PM PDT

•  Things in Iraq are great!

  I am a soldier.  I am in Iraq. I love my job.  We are here to bring freedom to the Iraqis.  
  Everything you read about how things are bad here or that we do not have enough equipment is wrong.  There are lots of good things going on here--too many to write about.  And our equipment is real good, too!  No complaints here!
  If we needed anything, anything at all, we would just tell our superiors and they would call Mr. Rumsfeld and he would send it right on over.  But we don't ever ask for anything because we don't need it and that is why Mr. Rumsfeld doesn't send us what we need--er, I mean, we don't need anything!
  Thanks for letting me post!  This blogging is really great!
  Sincerely,
  Your happy, happy soldier in Iraq

  by Naniboujou on Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 04:30:17 PM PDT