You know what I found interesting about this story of FEMA holding a
phony press conference with pretend-reporters?
I am not sure I have ever seen a more heavy-handed, amateurish attempt
at propaganda by a government agency in all my years of studying the
subject. I mean, come on: A phony press conference almost guaranteed to
be discovered as phony? Where was the subtlety? Where was the
deviousness? Some attempt at being covert?
I had this bizarre vision of some of history's most vile and long-gone
propagandists, hearing the story, laughing at the amateurishness of it,
and saying: "Now if they had asked me........"
Obviously, I celebrate the amateurishness, as it gave us a fascinating
window on an almost laughably unsubtle attempt at manipulation. That
these people even tried to get away with this tells us much about how
desperate FEMA -- a seriously wounded government agency -- is to rebuild
its reputation.
If the subject interests you, you may want to check out Jeffrey Herf's
The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Ideology and Propaganda During World War Ii and
the Holocaust. Harvard University Press, 2006. Often caricatured as a
bunch of sturm und drang, Herf shows how the NAZI press relations and
propaganda apparatus was actually quite subtle and relied on what
today's political strategists often call the "message discipline" of
sticking to no more than one theme each day.
Prof Gorelick
________________________________
From: HCJ [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Simone
Delgado
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 6:04 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Part #2 of Fake FEMA News Conference
Isn't it just one more crime for the endless collection of crimes
perpetrated by this criminal administration? All is connected.
I am not surprised at all!!
Simone
On Oct 27, 2007, at 9:16 AM, Gorelick, Steve wrote:
The New York Times
October 27, 2007
Fake News Briefing by FEMA Draws Official Rebukes
By ERIC LIPTON
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 - The Federal Emergency Management Agency
staged a
fake news conference this week, with agency staff officials,
pretending
to be reporters, peppering one of their own bosses with
decidedly
friendly questions about the response to the California fires,
the
Department of Homeland Security acknowledged Friday.
The action, first reported on Friday in The Washington Post,
drew a
rebuke from the White House and Homeland Security Secretary
Michael
Chertoff, and an apology from the agency official who was at the
lectern, Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy director.
"We have made it clear that such a stunt will never be tolerated
or
repeated," a spokeswoman for the department, Laura C. Keehner,
said on
behalf of Mr. Chertoff.
The questions from the staff were posed after FEMA gave
reporters only
15 minutes notice for a news conference on Tuesday, meaning that
other
than television camera crews, no reporters showed up before
questioning
began. A toll-free telephone line was provided so reporters
could listen
in, but it was not set up to allow questions.
As a result, staff members asked Mr. Johnson a series of
friendly
questions like, "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"
and, "What
lessons learned from Katrina have been applied?"
Mr. Johnson gave no indication that the questions came from his
own
staff.
"I'm very happy with FEMA's response so far," Mr. Johnson said
in
response to one question, according to a transcript.
Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman, said the event was
mishandled.
"It's not something I would have condoned," she said. "And they
- I'm
sure - will not do it again."
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