Reporter selection: Only those who will write favorable stories
From the Center for American Progress:
Stars and Stripes reported yesterday that the Pentagon has hired The Rendon Group to screen journalists seeking to embed with U.S. forces. As part of a $1.5 million “news analysis and media assessment” contract, Rendon examines “individual reporters’ recent work and determines whether the coverage was ‘positive,’ ‘negative’ or ‘neutral’ compared to mission objectives,” officials from the contractor said. Public affairs officer Air Force Capt. Elizabeth Mathias insists that the military has “not denied access to anyone because of what may or may not come out of their biography.” However, last month, the military barred a Stars and Stripes reporter from embedding with a unit in Iraq because he had “refused to highlight” good news. The military was also unhappy that the reporter “would not answer questions about stories he was writing.” Rendon has received millions from the U.S. government since 9/11 (at one point, taxpayers were paying CEO John Rendon $311.26/hour). The “secretive” firm personally set up the Iraqi National Congress and helped install Ahmad Chalabi as the group’s leader, whose main goal — “pressure the United States to attack Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein” — Rendon helped facilitate.
UPDATE: More here.
