The propaganda "Recovery channel" and FEMA--CNN

has been airing this report on the hour today (Headline News).
The channel is paid for by taxpayers (via FEMA).



http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/01/acd.02.html

.....Coming up next -- you know, here on 360, we made it our mission to hold accountable those who are responsible for the failures after Hurricane Katrina. We're still haunted, as we all are, by the images of people suffering when relief didn't come right away. And angered by recent reports that DNA testing still hasn't begun on many Katrina victims after three months.

But there's another network out there that's been covering the hurricane relief, without highlighting the failures or the outrage. On its programs, relief efforts appear to have gone splendidly. Folks are singing praises of the federal response. The network is called the "Recovery Channel." And guess what? Your tax dollars are paying for it. Tonight, "Keeping them Honest," CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Far from the cleanup, the debris and the angry public meetings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need some answers.

FOREMAN: Seventy miles from Washington in the Maryland countryside, it's show time for FEMA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In times of crisis, the best help is often just a source of reliable information.

FOREMAN: This is the "Recovery Channel," produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and airing around the clock via satellite and the internet.......

......FOREMAN: FEMA conceived the channel years ago to spread important information after disasters. Following Katrina, it was on in shelters, a plain display about rebuilding, financial aid, help and more. But now, with FEMA accusing the mainstream media of failing to provide enough of that info, the "Recovery Channel" has undergone a makeover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay with us. Together, we can build a bright future.

FOREMAN: And at the Annenberg School of Communication, Professor Joe Turow says it's turned into propaganda.

JOE TUROW, ANNENBERG SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION: Most of the information was really not the specific kind of factual information one might think, but rather feature and fluff pieces that seemed designed to aggrandize FEMA, and actually the Bush administration, too......