The more overt version of propaganda

From Editor and Publisher, Former KR Baghdad Chief Not Surprised By Payola Program

"I used to see groups of Iraqi journalists going off on (social) trips" with the military, said Allam, who ran the Baghdad bureau from 2003 to 2005. "I would ask one of them what the were doing and they would say, 'I'm going off on a soccer trip with the military.' They were very organized trips," she aid, adding that U.S. journalists were never included. "They seemed to be really cozy trips."

She also remembered the U.S. embassy last August giving 30 lap top computers to Iraqi journalists, including a "fixer" often used by Knight Ridder. "That raised some eyebrows," she said. "I don't know what they expect in return."

Allam recalled media events organized by U.S. embassy officials specifically for Iraqi press in an apparent effort to influence coverage. She cited one such gathering in which a senior embassy official conducted "a basic civics lesson about the United States and democracy....But it was insulting to the intelligence of the Iraqis, saying things like 'we used to have a problem with racism (in the U.S.) but not anymore. ' And they did not want any westerners in there."

Asked what she thought of the propaganda program that pays off Iraqi reporters, Allam said, "I'm really disappointed because these are journalists who have had no experience with a free press. It would have been a golden opportunity to set an example and we have squandered that."