January 14, 2005

Commentator Paid to Back Bush Policies 

By BILL PRESS

 
Oh, great. This is just what the media needs. We’re just barely recovering from the damage caused by Jason Blair and Dan Rather – and along comes Armstrong Williams.

A former aide to both Strom Thurmond and Clarence Thomas, Williams is one of the most articulate conservative commentators. He’s been a one-man media empire: radio show, TV show, syndicated column. And he’s always been an enthusiastic supporter of President Bush, especially Bush’s education policies.

Now, we find out, he was on Bush’s payroll all along. He admits he was paid $240,000 by the Department of Education to promote Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” program on radio and TV, to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige, and to persuade other African-American broadcasters to join him in supporting the president.*

I’m happy to tell you, this is one issue on which Pat Buchanan and I agree 100%. This is like a boxer taking money to throw a fight. It’s wrong, wrong, wrong.

There are many commentators on TV: a lot of conservatives, a sprinkling of liberals. That’s good. Viewers get a mix of opinions and are free to agree or disagree. That’s good, too. But the whole system breaks down if viewers believe that commentators are getting paid to endorse or oppose a particular policy – especially if they don’t reveal it, which Williams did not.

It’s a gross conflict of opinion. It violates every canon of journalistic ethics. It was dead wrong for Williams to take the money – and it was dead wrong for the Bush administration to offer it. There’s a law against using taxpayer dollars to pay for political propaganda. Looks to me like the Bushies just broke it, and not for the first time. Some members of Congress are demanding an investigation. Good.

Ever since the news broke, Williams has been all over television, admitting he made a mistake and apologizing for it. But that’s not enough. Williams is a professional. He knew it was wrong to take their money and still pretend to be an independent commentator, expressing his own point of view. If he’s really sorry for what he did, he should give the money back.

The whole sordid affair, I’m afraid, puts a cloud over everybody appearing on television. In light of what we know about Armstrong Williams, what I want to know is: Who else is on the payroll? I’m sure Armstrong Williams isn’t the only one.

*Note: Pat Buchanan and I also interviewed Secretary Paige on MSNBC’s Buchanan and Press. For the record, neither of us got a dime!

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Bill Press is an award-winning radio talk show host and television commentator. He is the author of Spin This: All the Ways We Don’t Tell the Truth.  Press has received numerous awards for his work, including four Emmys and a Golden Mic Award. He was named Best Commentator of the Year by the Associated Press in 1992. Press earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Niagara University and a S.T.B. in theology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His latest book is Why Bush Must Go! Top Ten Reasons Why George Bush Doesn't Deserve a Second Term.  And his web page can be found at www.billpress.com.