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Puff pieces paid by people

From a GAO report on media buys by the government between 2003 - 2005, we learn that seven departments in the Bush Administration have spent $1.6 billion dollars on advertising and public relations. In two-and-a-half years.

The federal government contracts with public relations firms, advertising agencies, media organizations, and individual members of the media to provide, among other things, messages about its programs and services. As we have reported, there is a lack of accurate governmentwide information on these contracts.

Seven federal departments account for nearly all the obligated federal dollars for public relations and advertising activities in fiscal year 2003—Commerce, Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs.

[snip]

The departments reported a total of 343 media contracts, for which they incurred obligations of $1.62 billion during the period of GAO’s review. Specifically, the departments reported 137 contracts (40 percent of the total contracts) with advertising agencies, 131 contracts (38 percent) with media organizations, 54 contracts (16 percent) with public relations firms, and 8 contracts (2 percent) with individual members of the media. For 13 contracts (4 percent), departments did not report on type of media firm.

The departments incurred obligations of $1.4 billion with advertising agencies (87 percent of the obligations), $197 million with public relations firms (12 percent), $15 million (1 percent) with media organizations, and $90,000 (less than 1 percent) with individual members of the media.

Some of this is undoubtedly reasonable. HHS was running TV ads for its Medicare prescription drug plan rollout (not that the ads seem to have done much good), the Defense department had to increase advertising to try to boost recruitment, and Interior likes to advertise its national parks. But why public relations? Could it be that the government has been doing such a bad job that more flackery was required?

Via Think Progress.

Posted by Linkmeister at February 14, 2006 07:50 AM | TrackBack