In-House Memos on Television News Presentations

Note: There are many other entries dating from January, 2002. To read these, please click here

 During the middle of March, 2003, tbrnews received an email from a man who claimed to be a mid-level executive with a major American television network. He stated in this, and subsequent, emails that he was in possession of “thousands” of pages of in-house memos sent from his corporate headquarters in New York City to the head of the network’s television news department. He went on to say that these memos set forth directives about what material was, and was not, to be aired on the various outlets of the network.

This individual claimed he was developing serious doubts about the strict control of media events and decided that he would pass this material along to someone who might make use of it.

There was the question of his job security. If someone published his name, it would be certain he was not only fired but blackballed throughout his profession.

If tbrnews.org would agree to protect his identity, he would send us these alleged thousands of pages of notes, going back to 2001.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating so we accepted his caveats and he then sent to us by disk the pages he spoke of. All are on corporate stationary, signed or initialed by the senders and again, signed or initialed by the recipients in the news division.

It was always possible that this material consisted of a very involved hoax or was something designed for the news site to use and then have it revealed that it was not original. It would not be the first time that spurious disinformation had been sent to us in the hopes that it would be used.

There were not “thousands of pages” of memos but a total of 1,497 separate pages involved. Many of them consisted of short memos while others ran to a larger format.

Naturally, someone could easily have obtained correct in-house network letterheads, made copies of them and prepared false memoranda but the sheer size and depth of the collection was impressive.

If these memos were true, they showed with a terrible clarity that at least one part of the American mass media was strictly controlled and that the news was so doctored and spun that it might as well be official news releases from the White House and Pentagon.

The best way in which to ascertain whether or not these documents contained original information was to check the dates of issuance and compare the information with subsequent news stories.

This was a terrible, time-consuming chore but by selecting random memos and looking through the archives of various national newspapers, checking AP releases and so on, the results indicated that indeed, news was being managed.

However, it was also possible that someone else did this and was preparing these after the fact and making the memos conform to published material.

That having been said, we insisted on absolutely current memos so that we could then check these against future publications. If, for example, a corporate fiat was to show certain pictures or spin a story in a certain way, it would be relatively simple to simply read the press or watch television news to see if these suggestions were implemented.

It was both shocking and gratifying to note that this proved to be the case in a preponderance of cases and so we began to put these up, either in toto or, more often, in excerpt and watch as ordained news was created before our eyes.

When a corporate order states, for instance, that certain pictures should be shown with accompanying commentary and the memo predates a published story by a week or more, then it is more than likely that the memos are not inspired guesswork but genuine.

When tbrnews put up the first two pages, there were two basic forms of public response. One was to thank us for exposing something many people believed; that the American media was controlled and not free. (That much can easily be ascertained by reading the websites of various reputable foreign publications such as the Swiss NZZ, the British Guardian, the Canadian Toronto Globe and Mail, Reuters News Service and the Jerusalem Post. What any viewer can see on these sites is certainly not reflected in the American media.)

The second response consisted of irate, and literate, statements to the effect that all of these items were just stupid hoaxes and should not be believed. “I believe,” one writer who claimed to be a Professor of Journalism at an Ivy League college said, “these are just disinformation designed to discredit American journalists whose reputation for honesty and integrity is certainly beyond question. You are performing a great disservice in repeating these politically-motivated fictions…”

This is certainly a true statement because if it became generally accepted that the American media was only a mechanical parrot for various political organization, it would no longer be either believed or watched. If viewers turned off their television sets, the networks would lose huge amounts of advertising revenue, reporters would be laid off and people would turn instead to the Internet for their news.

Tbrnews receives many emails on a daily basis but the input on this subject has been so great that we have decided to expand the articles, irate journalists and professors to the contrary.

In the final analysis, it is always up to the reader to make up their own mind as to the truth, or fiction, of what they read. The media has an opposite view of this.

It is fairly obvious that the average Americans get their news either from TV, mostly, or from the print media. If someone in East Peoria, Illinois sees something on CNN, the Voice of the White House, they have no reason to question it. And don't. The establishment does not worry about the lone man with a website that, as in our case, reaches perhaps 100,000 people at a time when they have control over NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN that can, an do, reach millions a day.

What to they care about people who email messages back and forth? Even if a Pentagon plan to nuke North Korea were up on the net, all that would happen is that some would say, "See, I told you so!" while others would say "Oh shame! You are questioning our Glorious Leader and putting our Brave Troops in danger!"

If some astronomer had absolute proof that a three mile wide asteroid was going to hit this planet in ten days, do you think any of the mass media would ever mention a word of it? This would cause mass panic and the last thing the establishment wants is a public that is out of control. They would find out the target area and keep away from it, along with their friends and members of their families. The rest of us would be either squashed or roasted alive but they don't care about us only so long as we pay our taxes without complaint.

If the honesty of the American mass media is brought into serious question, perhaps the establishment cannot jam their lies down the public's throat with such ease.

Walter Storch

"Authoritarian government required to speak, is silent...Representative government required to speak, lies with impunity". – Napoleon

Part 11

(June 15) We are going to be running into serious problems with the growing resistance movements in Iraq. GIs are being killed and wounded, convoys ambushed and worst of all scenarios are coming true: The Iraqi oil is being interdicted before it can be shipped out of the country. Casualties cannot be concealed but can be minimized. No clips of dead or injured US personnel…pipeline fires can be shown but voice over should stress that technicians (from Haliburton, of course) are putting out these as quickly as possible. Damage is to be minimal…the nature of the attackers…these are a handful of diehard Saddam supporters…who are being successfully tracked down and neutralized by ever-vigilant and prepared US troops. Show pictures of captured (not dead) Iraqis. Be careful to vet the shots so as not to include any captives that appear to have been beaten…

(June 16) …Pentagon sources now claim that it will be impossible to bring law and order to Iraq within a year and heavy US military presence must be in place to do this. An order is being prepared to exclude all foreign media, especially British and French, from guerrilla areas. The reason given is that they might be kidnapped but in reality, foreign press might take pictures that are not advisable to be seen in the US. …the most severe methods of interdiction are currently being indicated including setting up detention camps, curfews, the issuance of ID cards, the closing of mosques, the detention of religious leaders and the sealing of the borders with Syria and Iran…

(June 18) Now it appears that the faked (call them ‘inaccurate’) reports about Saddam’s purchase of enriched uranium will not go away. The White House hopes that Muslim terrorists will commit some atrocity, preferably in the United States, so as to deflect rising negative attitudes on the part of the electorate…although no one has said it, such an attack(s) would not be surprising.

(June 19) ..and it now appears that SARS is taking a breather. There are still pockets of it, especially in the Pacific rim areas, but the Canadian outbreaks seem to be pretty much under control now…The CDC is very concerned about a renewed outbreak concomitant with the usual flu season this winter. If SARS combines with certain forms of pneumonia, the results could be a major epidemic. Use discretion in any mention of SARS and we have been advised to drop the entire subject.

(June 20) Continue with positive reports about the market upswings…no comment on the 10% unemployment rates. Work up a treatment that stresses the problems newly-graduated high school students have in finding work. Thus, the higher rates.

(June 21) The reaction of Congress, pushed by public opinion, to rescind the FCC rulings about multiple ownership of media entities will certainly not be welcome in the trade. The President says he will veto anything like this but Beltway sources on the inside say this will be veto-proof. Rupert will not be a happy camper!

(June 22) Keep up with the legislation about partial-birth abortion but stay neutral in reporting. This is a very volatile issue, especially with the women. No one wants armies of screaming women parading up and down in front of the White House or the Capitol…

(June 23) …withdrawal of US troops from the Korean DMZ is to be presented as an attempt to keep GIs out of harms way and, stress this, not as a prelude of a US attack (atomic or conventional) on Pyongyang. This is a hyper-sensitive area. We are all assured that North Korea will not attack unless attacked and the media has to play this aspect down. In short, the less said the better. Iran is the new target, not North Korea. Keep that strictly in mind on coverage..