DOD OIG Report: Examination of Allegations Involving DoD Office of Public Affairs Outreach Program

Inspector General, Department of Defense: Examination of Allegations Involving DoD Office of Public Affairs Outreach Program, Jauary 14, 2009.

  • “We initiated this review to further examine issues that were raised in an April 2008 New York Times article entitled, Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand. The article documented a DoD public affairs outreach program that focused on retired military analyst (RMAs) who provided media commentary concerning DoD programs, particularly those involving combat operations in Southwest Asia. The article suggested that this outreach program and the DoD “information apparatus” were used to provide the RMAs with information “to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance.” Moreover, the article reported that such activities gave those analysts who had ties to military contractors an unfair opportunity to enhance their business interests…In our review, the evidence in this case was insufficient to conclude that those outreach activities, beginning in October 2002 and extending through April 2008, violated statutory prohibitions on publicity or propaganda.”
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    Posted in: E-Government, Government Documents
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