WASHINGTON, DC - April 21 - Yesterday, the New York Times exposed a secret Pentagon effort to spread favorable views of the war by recruiting and planting military analysts in the nation's news media. These pundits became fixtures of war coverage on most major network, cable, radio and print news outlets without disclosing their considerable conflicts of interest in their own work as consultants, lobbyists and contractors for military interests.

Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver issued the following statement:

"Government-sanctioned propaganda violates every conceivable standard of journalism. That it has been allowed to continue unquestioned and undisclosed for years is an indictment of both this White House and a docile American media. An administration secretly using the press to force a pro-war agenda on the public is not a partisan issue.

Free Press is calling on Congress to investigate the military pundits and their ties to the Bush administration, defense contractors and our national news media. It's time the truth about the selling of this war came out." Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. Learn more at www.freepress.net

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