WASHINGTON, 2 February 2005 — Ethics and boundaries in journalism are being put to the test following recent disclosures that several well-known conservative journalists were paid by the Bush administration to promote its policies.
Armstrong Williams, who writes a column and hosts radio and TV talk shows, accepted $240,000 from the Education Department to promote the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act legislation, then pending before Congress.
News that the Bush administration paid pundit Williams to promote its education policies to black audiences drew a quick rebuke from lawmakers on Capitol Hill and compelled Tribune Media Services to pull the plug on its syndicated commentator.
The administration’s arrangement with Williams was first reported by USA Today, and based on documents it obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Education Department has defended its decision as a “permissible use of taxpayer funds under legal government contracting procedures,” and said the point was to help parents, particularly in poor and minority communities, understand the benefits of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
The law, a centerpiece of President Bush’s domestic agenda, aims to raise achievement among poor and minority children, with penalties for many schools that don’t make progress.
The department’s arrangement with Williams required him “to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts,” and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004.
The contract also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum Public Relations Firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, “to encourage the producers to periodically address” NCLB.
But the tale doesn’t stop there. A bit more digging revealed that another columnist, Maggie Gallagher, was also paid by the Health and Human Services, HHS, to promote the president’s proposal. Like Williams, Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with HHS.
Her contract, which ran from January through October 2002, included drafting a magazine article for the HHS official to oversee the initiative, writing brochures for the program and conducting a briefing for department officials.
And, just one day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire was revealed.
Salon.com confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, “Ethics & Religion,” appears in 50 newspapers, was also hired as a subcontractor by HHS to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative.
McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid about $4,000 directly, and another $49,000 was paid to his group, Marriage Savers, to help the plan succeed.
Spellings Touts Role as First Education Chief with School-Age Children
Margaret Spellings said Monday her role as a parent of school-age children will help guide her views in her new job as secretary of education.
“In carrying out my duties to the American people, I will be carrying out my duties as a mom,” Spellings said in her first public comments as secretary. “And there is none more important than to provide a quality education to our children.”
With President Bush at her side and much of her family in attendance, Spellings was sworn in by White House chief of staff Andy Card as the eighth education secretary. The moment was ceremonial, as Spellings had already taken the oath of office from Card on Inauguration Day.
Spellings reaffirmed she plans to “stay the course” with No Child Left Behind, the aggressive education law she helped craft as Bush’s domestic policy adviser. The law demands yearly progress among all groups of students and penalizes many schools that fall short.
Spellings, 47, has two school-age daughters and two older stepsons. She has become a confidante to Bush over the last decade, both in his jobs as Texas governor and as president.
Spellings has pledged to Senate leaders that she will address the “horror stories” that some schools say they’ve faced in enforcing the federal education law. On Monday, she focused on sticking with the law and expanding its reach in high schools.
“When you signed No Child Left Behind into law three years ago, it was more than an act — it was an attitude,” Spellings told Bush. — With additional reporting from the Associated Press.
