- Armstrong Williams Paid $240,000 to Propogandize No Child Left Behind Law
- Can we get OUR money back? Who else is on the pay roll?
Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same. Williams on being paid to boost NCLB: "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in." The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "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. Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical, but "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in." The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, 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. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. The contract may be illegal "because Congress has prohibited propaganda," or any sort of lobbying for programs funded by the government, said Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "And it's propaganda." [more] and [more]
- You're Fired: Tribune Media Services (TMS) tonight terminated its contract with columnist Armstrong Williams, effective immediately. But Williams told E&P that he plans to continue his feature via self-syndication. E&P subsequently reported that Williams had also written about NCLB in his newspaper column at least four times last year. In a statement, TMS said: "[A]ccepting compensation in any form from an entity that serves as a subject of his weekly newspaper columns creates, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest. Under these circumstances, readers may well ask themselves if the views expressed in his columns are his own, or whether they have been purchased by a third party.""I understand the decision," Williams said when reached by E&P. He also said he would not be returning the $240,000. [more]
- Williams, 45, a former aide to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is one of the top black conservative voices in the nation. He hosts The Right Side on TV and radio, and writes op-ed pieces for newspapers, including USA TODAY, while running a public relations firm, Graham Williams Group.
- Pet Negro Armstrong Williams is an UNCLE TOM- BUTT Kissing Fool [more] and [more] Please Keep it Real and Leave that Barney Sh** Alone Brother.
- Black Skin, White Masks? "In essence, conservatives understand the essential goal of propoganda and advertising: It is not necessarily important what one says but who says it. A Black castigating welfare and the moral depravity of the Black underclass cannot be called a racist even if the intent is aimed at a specific sector of society, meaning Blacks. Black conservatives function as "pet Negroes" within the conservative movement and the Republican Party, giving cover to whites' racist sentiment masquerading as public policy, and are protected by conservative whites as "courageous individuals" when attacking the liberal consensus on race management." Norman Kelley. The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome (2003). Page 69.