Republican party "news" bulletins?

[snorlax]

I read somewhere recently that there was some controversy over the Republican party or the US government creating news bulletins which were favourable to US policy, then distributing them for use on local television news.

I am unable to find a cite for this despite furious googling, and therefore am usnsure whether this really happened. Can anyone assist?

Note, this is in GQ because I don’t wish to enter into a debate about the merits of such an action, I just want the facts about what was or wasn’t done.

[Bromley]

It’s in the Pit. I know that this is GQ, but that sort of behaviour from any party is shocking.

[Walloon]

From a political party, it is not shocking, as their job is to push political agendas. It’s called PR. It only becomes shocking when a news media outlet accepts it uncritically.

[Kent_Clark]

Political parties regularly distribute footage of their candidates in the most flattering light, conveniently quoting the message of the day. What the Republicans have done in prepackaging a news story isn’t any more shocking to me – but shame on the TV stations who don’t clearly identify it as coming from the campaign.

[bibliophage]

Okay, we don’t need a debate about whether it’s shocking or not. Just the facts on what was done.

bibliophage
moderator GQ

[Squink]

A Watchdog See;s Flaws in in Bush’s Ads on Medicare

March 10 — The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said on Wednesday that advertisements and brochures prepared by the Bush administration to publicize a new Medicare law, although not illegal, misrepresented the prescription drug benefits that would be offered to millions of elderly and disabled people.

A bit more here: Seems the Last Word on Medicare Wasn’t But the emphasis of the story is more on the hiding of cost estimates.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats are demanding an investigation into charges that the Bush administration threatened to fire the chief actuary of the Medicare program last year if he gave Congress data on the high cost of the legislation. Such cost estimates were a point of contention when Congress considered the law, which just squeaked through the House, largely because conservatives feared its price would escalate.

The two stories tend to get tangled up with each other.
Here’s the reaction of Journalists to the planted newsbits:
Journalists decry fake news reports

Nineteen journalist groups Thursday asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to stop using video news releases that appear authentic.

In a joint statement, the groups, including the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists, said, "We ask that public agencies stop producing videos that imitate television news stories or use announcers that identify themselves as reporters.

[DanBlather]

It’s important to note that this was not funded by the Republican Party, but by the federal government’s budget.

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

You can see the a bad version of the video on Comedy Central. It’s currently number two in the new videos “Medicalert”