http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/10/EDGOQAN1G21.DTLSF Chronicle Editorial: Armstrong Williams
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No journalist worthy of the title should ever engage in such a deal. The sleaziness is not diminished by Williams' explanation that Bush's education policy was "something I believe in." He did not even bother to disclose the financial arrangement. It became public only after USA Today discovered it through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Williams' willingness to accept payment for commenting on NCLB and for interviewing outgoing Education Secretary Rod Paige on TV and radio spots would have been a serious ethical violation, even if the dollar amount were small.
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We're also outraged as taxpayers. A nation with a deficit in the hundreds of billions should not be enlisting high-priced public-relations firms -- such as the one that sought out Williams -- for such propaganda campaigns.
Federal education dollars would be better spent in the classroom, where they could be generating results worth touting -- without having to provide any payola to so-called journalists. 
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