Pentagon Hires Rendon Group to Profile and Rate Journalists Covering Afghanistan War

Democracy Now by Charlie Reed, James Bamford, Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman | Aug. 28, 2009 (News Report)

The U.S. Army in Afghanistan has admitted it pays a private company to produce background profiles on journalists covering the war. The Pentagon has been on the defensive ever since the Army newspaper Stars and Stripes revealed this week that journalists were being screened by the Washington-based public relations firm, The Rendon Group, under a $1.5 million dollar contract with the military. Documents obtained by the paper reveal journalists were ... Full Story »

Posted by Dwight Rousu - via Google Blogsearch (World)

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Subjects: World, U.S., Politics, Media
Topics: War, U.S. Military, Media and Politics, Ethics in Journalism
Member Tags: media and war
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# Tweets: 5 (as of 2009-08-28)
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Posted by: Posted by Dwight Rousu - Aug 28, 2009 - 10:31 AM PDT
Reviewed by: Dwight Rousu (review), John Louden (review), Randy Morrow (review), jodevizes (review), Jose Cazares (review), Tanya J. Maurer (review)
Content Type: Article
Edit Lock: This story can be edited
Edited by: Dwight Rousu - Aug 28, 2009 - 12:19 PM PDT

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Randy Morrow
3.9
 by Randy Morrow - Aug. 30, 2009

This transcript discusses the possibility that journalists are being screened based on reports complied by a company that has participated in covert operations, and that as a consequence reports on Afghanistan are being "steered".

See Full Review » (11 answers)
Dwight Rousu
4.6
 by Dwight Rousu - Aug. 30, 2009

The story of news reporting in a time of military conflict being controlled to keep the truth from American citizens is a serious issue regarding maintaining an informed democracy. The story here relates investigation of pentagon actions.

Dwight posted this story.
See Full Review » (12 answers)
Tanya J. Maurer
4.3
 by Tanya J. Maurer - Sep. 1, 2009
See Full Review » (11 answers)
John Louden
2.9
 by John Louden - Aug. 28, 2009

An interesting story line, but poorly presented.

See Full Review » (5 answers)
Jose Cazares
5.0
 by Jose Cazares - Aug. 30, 2009
See Full Review » (5 answers)

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  • Army used profiles to reject reporters Pending

    Stars and Stripes | Aug. 28, 2009
    Posted by Dwight Rousu
    See Reviews »

  • As Pentagon Cancels Rendon Group Contract, US-NATO Spokesman in Afghanistan Defends Using Company to Profile Journalists

    Democracy Now by Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Amy Goodman, Nir Rosen, Col. Wayne Shanks | Sep. 1, 2009 (News Report)
    The Pentagon is canceling its contract with the private public relations firm The Rendon Group to produce background profiles of journalists seeking to cover the war. One ...
    Posted by Dwight Rousu
    4.4
     See Reviews »
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