Where on your list would you put video news releases that are staged and scripted to mimic actual news reports? I would class those in at least the “medium evil” category, and this type of fake press conference is disturbingly similar.
That is an interesting one. On one hand, it makes the government no better than any corporation. That does not surprise me, given that we use corporate metrics with our government - why not expect them to respond in the same way. I expect the government to do a better job of disseminating information, and perhaps video laden press bits are better than another boring government report.
Given that the government did not hide its hand in this, I would personally pit the news network that uses the video without revealing its source.
That’s sort of like saying because criminals use knives in the commission of a crime, we should automatically expect anyone with a knife to commit a crime, don’t you think? And how would you propose we measure government effectiveness if we didn’t use metrics like we use with corporations? (And I feel I should point out that many of the metrics used in business are mandated by the government, so it’s not a case of us forcing the government to adopt corporate practices, but rather the reverse.)
FEMA issues apology . Even the Whitehouse thinks it was a sham. My skeptic side tells me that the Whitehouse and the DHS knew about it, but did not realize the magnitude of the blogosphere backlash.
I actually think this needs to register higher on people’s Outrage-O-Meter. On the surface, it seems rather harmless. But I can easily see this scam used as a vehicle for pumping lies and propaganda down our throats.
Corporations create infomercials designed to fool stupid people into buying inferior, crappy products. Informercials paint a glowing picture of whatever it is they are advertising. They don’t tell you that the Chia Pet smells like ass. They tell you the Chia Pet smells like roses and clover. Corporations are run by con men. They use commercials to lie and distort.
The government is supposed to be better than a corporation.
Yeah, but that was a professional obligation. Now, if Americans would stop electing closeted bondage buffs…! 
No, I think it was because Republican gay male prostitutes have some standards!
That’s true. Anything beyond the “standards” costs extra.