So it's been a little while since I updated this thing... but hey, it's not like anything's been happening in the world, right? Well, I actually got really busy and am still catching up with the news, so today's entry responds to events from a couple of weeks ago.
On 1 May, USA Today carried a story describing the Department of Defense's creation of new news websites for foreign audiences (Peter Eisler, "Pentagon Starts Foreign News Sites; Journalism Groups Call Sites Deceptive Effort to Control Message Abroad," 1 May 2008). The title basically gets right to the controversy: is the Pentagon deceiving people who visit these sites?
First, let me point out that no-one appears to be claiming that the sites contain disinformation. DOD does appear to be trying to present facts, or at least information that it considers to be truthful.
How, then, might the department be deceiving readers? First, the fact that DOD supports the sites is not obvious. For example, on www.mawtani.com (the DOD news website for Iraqis), visitors have to click on an "about" link to discover DOD's sponsorship. Critics claim that few visitors are likely to click on such a link; many more will likely assume the site's content to have been provided by an independent news organization.
Second, while DOD does not appear to be planting false information on the sites, there is simply no such thing as completely objective news. Editors always skew how information is presented, even if only by deciding which stories to include and which to omit. A few years ago, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz suggested that only journalists who "will not reflect discredit on the U.S. government" should be hired for the websites (see Barbara Starr and Larry Shaughnessy, "Pentagon Sites: Journalism or Propaganda?," cnn.com, 5 February 2005). One has to wonder, then, what kind of example the United States is setting for other countries and whether the information on these websites is truly objective or is merely propaganda.
Yet there are still more reasons to object to these websites. First, we have to wonder, what is the Pentagon providing that other websites aren't? Is there really such a dearth of websites providing news to Iraqis? A similar website is being built for Latin America. Are Latin Americans really unable to get news on the internet currently?
Second, even if such an effort were necessary, why would DOD be in charge of it? These websites will cover general news, not just defense or security issues. Developing news websites appears to be well outside of DOD's mandate, especially since the United States already has a very capable organization (the Broadcasting Board of Governors) with extensive experience providing news to foreign audiences.
Finally, DOD can only get bad PR from this effort. No-one will be writing letters to Secretary Gates thanking him for finally bringing the news to information-starved Iraqis. On the other hand, this program can easily remind critics of DOD's previous public diplomacy missteps, such as its payment to Iraqi journalists for favorable news stories (the Lincoln Group scandal) and the short-lived Office of Strategic Influence. Notwithstanding the actual merits of those earlier efforts, many people will certainly associate the current websites with those projects and once again accuse DOD of spreading disinformation and propaganda.
DOD ought to get out of the news business and stick to its core competency. If there really is a need for websites to provide news to foreign audiences, then let the BBG handle it.
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