PR WATCH

Reuters: TELLING STORIES TO SELL WAR
"Earlier this month, the State Dept.'s International Information Programs put out a pamphlet featuring essays written by 15 well-known authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford.
The "Writers on America" publication won't be seen at bookstores in this country, since federal law forbids the dissemination of government-sponsored information domestically. The law was enacted in the late 1940s to shield Americans from U.S. propaganda."




"At a press briefing Dec. 18, State Dept. public diplomacy chief
Charlotte Beers announced that her division has asked author Ken
Pollack to interrupt a book tour and travel overseas to talk about
his book 'The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq.' Turns
out the State Dept. also has been courting foreign journalists over
the past year. 'We set up many more responsive facilities than
we've had in the past for the foreign press at the president's
ranch in Texas, at the White House and in our own State foreign
press centers, which are Washington, New York and Los Angeles,'
Beers said. A former Madison Ave. executive, Beers extolled the
importance of 'storytelling' in convincing overseas audiences that
the U.S. is only trying to do good. 'And that's something that we
really have to get better at. This is an emotionally laden universe
now. It's not just the facts that are operating in the world now,'
Beers said. Hence, the State Dept. has just published the book
'Iraq: From Fear to Freedom.' Beers made sure to point out a
passage by President Bush: 'I hope the good people of Iraq will
remember our history. America has never sought to dominate, never
sought to conquer. We have, in fact, sought to liberate and free.
Our desire is to help Iraqi citizens find the blessings of liberty
within their own culture and their own traditions.' In the middle
of Beers' briefing at the National Press Club in downtown
Washington, several protesters stood up and began shouting, 'You're
selling war and we're not buying.' "