First they came for ConsortiumNews, and I did not speak out—

[Octafish]

391. NPR news chiefs deny they knew of Army interns

By Mike Janssen
Originally published in Current, April 17, 2000

Sergeants from a specialized propaganda unit of the U.S. Army interned on NPR news shows over a nine-month period, according to a statement by network President Kevin Klose released last week. The April 10 announcement coincided with the publication of an article in TV Guide that revealed the surprising news.

Similar reports about officers from the 4th Psychological Operations Group (PSYOP) interning at CNN surfaced weeks before the TV Guide article, first in a Dutch newspaper and later in stateside media. Media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and Nation columnist Alexander Cockburn suggested that the military was spying on CNN and highlighted the rich potential for conflicts of interest. However, CNN and NPR officials agree with a PSYOP spokesman: the interns did not influence the networks' journalism.

"No journalism was committed" by the interns, says NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin, who was v.p. of news when the interns were employed. Dvorkin says the interns answered phones, filed away scripts, and prepared program lists and schedules. Maj. Jonathan Withington, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command which includes PSYOP, adds that the interns carried equipment and did "background research," and stresses that they did not influence reporting. Regardless, Dvorkin calls the internships "a real goof."

The first intern at NPR rotated among newsmagazines from September to November 1998. The other two worked for Talk of the Nation, one from January to February 1999, the other from March to May 1999. NPR and Withington would not identify the interns or allow them to be interviewed for this article.

All of the interns were non-commissioned U.S. Army officers from the 4th Psychological Operations Group based at Ft. Bragg, N.C. PSYOP overtly disseminates information supporting U.S. goals and policy to other countries. For example, the unit has placed signs in Colombian airports discouraging drug smuggling. "In civilian terms, it's like working in an ad agency or a public relations firm," Withington says.

The Army began to arrange the internships through NPR's human resources office in February 1998, according to Withington.

NPR spokeswoman Jess Sarmiento says the human resources department, including Vice President for Human Resources Kathleen Jackson, knew the interns worked for PSYOP when it hired them, but thought news staffers had okayed the plan. Dvorkin says he wasn't aware the interns were from PSYOP until a few weeks ago. It's possible that the interns' immediate supervisors knew, but Sarmiento says the PSYOP tie was news to a higher-up, whom she would not name, who learned of it only near the end of the third intern's stint. And Dvorkin says he wasn't aware the interns were from PSYOP until a few weeks ago.

Upon discovering the connection, Sarmiento says, NPR's news department ordered Human Resources to stop hiring PSYOP officers. "Once we discovered it, we said, 'This is not for us,' and so we severed the relationship," Dvorkin says. He adds that the network needs to be more vigilant about hiring news interns in the future. Withington says the interns worked at CNN and NPR to get hands-on experience with technical aspects of news production. After their internships, they reported back to colleagues and shared their experiences. For instance, their feedback helped Ft. Bragg design a new center for media production that will reduce the number of PSYOP officers the Army deploys abroad.

CONTINUED...

http://current.org/files/archive-site/rad/rad007psyop.html

Must pay well, coming up with lies to fool some, if not most, of the people some, if not most, of the time.

Gee. I wonder what they were preparing for, a future world where the Army would be broadcasting news?