This is an introductory article from the year 2002, concerning the Office of Strategic Influence. It cites a remark made by Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, which indicates this supposedly abandoned group was and is still in operation today. For those who are un-familiar with this topic, in short, it is an Office of Government-Controlled Propoganda over the free media. I have not studied it thoroughly enough to say if it is true or not, but to me, the indication from my reading on it is that it is. (Note this is my opinion and not a Truth, so remember,"caveat Lector") Since creating this expose, there have been employees of media who have come to the Author's investigative group to provide thousands of notes to Staff directing how news will be presented in the 'controlled-media' and what will be censored. Controls were designed to check for validity of the material, such as current real-time news presentation as compared to notes as to what would be reported before it happened. The files are .pdf and quite extensive; hence the use of an introductory article and link to the files.
It's value lies in showing how news can be manipulated, if nothing else. There are Corporate heads named and dates attached with regard to their involvement in this 'Office', whose origins are linked to Gulf War I,and certain British Subjects.
The link I attach is to allow you access to the .pdf files with greater ease, and is not link to the article below, which is found at: http://www.fair.org/press-releases/osi-followup.html
If you have any information on this topic, feel free to post it in the comment section when done, as I always appreciate new links to information. Thanks for the read and Blog On.
INTRODUCTORY ARTICLE BEGINS

MEDIA ADVISORY:
The Office of Strategic Influence Is Gone, But Are Its Programs In Place?

November 27, 2002

The Federation of American Scientists has pointed to a startling revelation by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that mainstream media have missed: In remarks during a recent press briefing, Rumsfeld suggested that though the controversial Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) no longer exists in name, its programs are still being carried out (FAS Secrecy News, 11/27/02, http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2002/11/112702.html ).

The OSI came under scrutiny last February, when the New York Times reported (2/19/02) that the new Pentagon group was “developing plans to provide news items, possibly even false ones, to foreign media organizations.” The news was met with outrage, and within a week the Pentagon had closed down the OSI, saying that negative attention had damaged the office’s reputation so much “that it could not operate effectively" (AP, 2/26/02).

The plan was troubling for many reasons: It was profoundly undemocratic; it would have put journalists’ lives at risk by involving them in Pentagon disinformation; and it’s almost certain that any large-scale disinformation campaign directed at the foreign press would have led, sooner or later, to a falsified story being picked up by U.S. media. (See Extra! Update 4/02, "Behind the Pentagon's Propaganda Plan.")

At the time, Rumsfeld claimed that he had “never even seen the charter for the office,” but Thomas Timmes, the OSI’s assistant for operations, said that Rumsfeld had been briefed on its goals “at least twice” and had “given his general support” (New York Times, 2/25/02).

Now, in remarks made at a November 18 media briefing, Rumsfeld has suggested that though the exposure of OSI's plans forced the Pentagon to close the office, they certainly haven't given up on its work. According to a transcript on the Department of Defense website, Rumsfeld told reporters:


"And then there was the Office of Strategic Influence. You may recall that. And 'oh my goodness gracious isn't that terrible, Henny Penny the sky is going to fall.' I went down that next day and said fine, if you want to savage this thing fine I'll give you the corpse. There's the name. You can have the name, but I'm gonna keep doing every single thing that needs to be done and I have."
A search of the Nexis database indicates that no major U.S. media outlets-- no national broadcast television news shows, no major U.S. newspapers, no wire services or major magazines-- have reported Rumsfeld's remarks.

Rumsfeld's comments seem all the more alarming in light of analysis presented by William Arkin in a recent Los Angeles Times opinion column (11/24/02), in which he argues that Rumsfeld is redesigning the U.S. military to make "information warfare" central to its functions.

This new policy, says Arkin, increasingly "blurs or even erases the boundaries between factual information and news, on the one hand, and public relations, propaganda and psychological warfare, on the other." Arkin adds that "while the policy ostensibly targets foreign enemies, its most likely victim will be the American electorate."

It is essential that media follow up this story, particularly now, as the country faces a possible war with Iraq and reporters rely even more heavily than usual on Pentagon information.

To read the full transcript of Rumsfeld's remarks, see:
http://www.dod.gov/news/Nov2002/t11212002_t1118sd2.html