-Caveat Lector-
Sounds like they are going to put in another
monopoly and then say that most news
gathering / writers are surplus. Does
this sound like the beginning of a government
cover-up? When will our free speech be
"coordinated"
William Hugh Tunstall wrote:
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 19:28:11 -0500
>
> U.S. Creates News Agency
> Unit to Coordinate Flow of Information Overseas
>
> Associated Press
> Friday, August 13, 1999; Page A23
>
> The Clinton administration, dismayed by the success of anti-American
> propaganda worldwide, is striking back with an information offensive of
> its own: a State Department unit that will control the flow of government
> news overseas, especially during crises.
>
> The new International Public Information group, or IPI, will coordinate
> the dissemination of news from the State Department, Pentagon and other
> U.S. agencies.
>
> "What this is intended to do is organize the instruments of the federal
> government to be able to support the public diplomacy, military
> engagements and economic initiatives that we have overseas," said David
> Leavy, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council.
>
> In the recent Kosovo war, the Pentagon, State Department and White House
> poured out information each day but no single agency tried to assemble it
> so that the United States spoke with a coordinated message overseas.
>
> In many respects, the new information group is a smaller, less-structured
> successor to the independent U.S. Information Agency, which the State
> Department will absorb in October.
>
> U.S. officials say the group came about partly in response to the spread
> of unflattering or erroneous information about the United States via
> electronic mail, the Internet, cellular telephones and other
> communications advances.
>
> A new office of undersecretary of state for public diplomacy will run the
> IPI. The current USIA director, Evelyn S. Lieberman, has been nominated
> for the job.
>
> President Clinton signed a directive April 30, in the thick of the Kosovo
> war, that set out plans for IPI, although the White House did not
> formally announce the group's existence or role.
>
> An unclassified mission statement obtained by the Associated Press
> described IPI's role:
>
> "Effective use of our nation's highly developed communications and
> information capabilities to address misinformation and incitement,
> mitigate inter-ethnic conflict, promote independent media organizations
> and the free flow of information, and support democratic participation
> will advance our interests and is a critical foreign policy objective,"
> the document said.
>
> Joan Mower, director of Latin American and African programs for the
> Freedom Forum, said she worries the coordinated effort may filter
> information that should be broadly available to foreign reporters. "My
> feeling is that the more information is out there, the better," she said.
>
> The IPI will hold its first formal meeting this fall, said a government
> official involved in the process. Clinton's directive orders officials at
> the Pentagon, FBI, CIA and the departments of State, Commerce and
> Treasury to organize the group.
>
> Regular members will be senior diplomats and others in foreign policy or
> national security jobs in Washington, according to the official, who
> spoke on condition of anonymity.
>
> The rationale for IPI dates at least to the confusion and unfavorable
> media reports surrounding U.S. intervention in Haiti in 1994-1995, but
> the conflict over Kosovo is the best recent example of how the United
> States needs to fight a propaganda war in concert with military strikes,
> officials said.
>
> "President [Slobodan] Milosevic has an extensive propaganda machine,"
> Leavy said. "We've worked very hard to try to counteract that propaganda
> machine, and make sure the people in Serbia and in Kosovo have access to
> their own news--that they can make their own independent judgments."
>
> Anti-American sentiment ran high during the 78-day air war, even among
> Yugoslavs who did not support the Yugoslav president. Many Europeans also
> were leery of the airstrikes, seen as a U.S. enterprise, and reluctant to
> use heavy firepower against a modern European capital.
>
> The air war that ended in June also produced one of the worst diplomatic
> and public relations disasters in recent memory when a U.S. plane
> mistakenly bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on May 7, killing three
> Chinese citizens.
>
> Outraged mobs rushed the American Embassy in Beijing, trapping
> then-Ambassador James Sasser inside for a time. The Chinese government
> waited days before publicizing the official apology from the United
> States, and the belated U.S. explanation was greeted with disdain by both
> the Chinese government and rock-throwing street mobs.
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
>
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DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
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