WP/AP: Pentagon will monitor "tone" of media stories on Iraq [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

Pentagon Moves Toward Monitoring Media
MATTHEW PERRONE
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 31, 2006

WASHINGTON -- 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....

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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....

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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....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101418.html