The Era of Big Government PR

According to a Newsday investigation of the federal guvmint,

Between September 2000 and September 2004, the number of public affairs officials rose 9 percent, from 4,327 to 4,703, in executive-branch agencies, according to U.S. Office of Personnel Management statistics. Meanwhile, the federal work force grew 6 percent. […]

The increase did not occur evenly across agencies. The agencies adding staff include Defense, State, Agriculture, Interior and the Social Security Administration, while Health and Human Services and Labor shed PR officers, the figures show.

The Pentagon, fighting two wars and mired in a prolonged occupation, added the greatest number of PR officials, 173 for a total of 1,812.

Link via Secrecy News.

Comments

[PR guy]

Nice to know that if I ever can't find PR work in the private sector I always have the good old government to fall back on.

[Evan Williams]

I heard 5 minutes of Diane Ream about an hour ago, and while talking about the "coalition of the willing", she noted that the US taxpayer money we shelled out to the other coalition members totalled about $400,000,000.00. She then asked, isn't this just taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign bribery for their war?

Taxpayer-funded PR goes on all the time. Note the above. Also note publicly funded presidential campaigns. Also note the propaganda that the ONDCP wastes its time plastering all over the airwaves (boredom: the anti-drug!).

After all, The Rise of the Political Class must be televised! It cannot be left to chance. We shouldn't be surprised when we see the creation of the National Office of Propaganda, nor when they come out with commercials that proclaim, "The US Government is never wrong!" After all, nobody (except a few traitors like Diane Ream) batted an eye when we bribed 30 or so useless nations into a "coalition", all for the purpose of making the Administration look good.

[Douglas Fletcher]

I heard 5 minutes of Diane Ream

If you can listen to five minutes of Diane Rehm without batting an eye you're a stronger man than I am.

Also, what in the fuck are you talking about?

[Stevo Darkly]

Ah, Diane Ream -- "the world's most deliberate radio personality." I have fun comparing the interviewing styles of Diane Ream and Howard Stern.

A) DIANE REAM: Now ... As. A. Small. Chi-yuld ... At. Some. Point ... You. Must. Have. Re-uh-lized. That. You. Were. Some-how ... Diff-er-ent ... From. The. Other. ... Chil-der-en ... You. Grew. Up. With. ... Tellusnowwww ... What ... was ... that ... like?

B) HOWARD STERN: So what was it like, growin' up as a freak?

[The Unemployed Comic]

"...the number of public affairs officials rose..."

And they say Ken Starr has no legacy.

Get it? Public affairs? Monica?

Is thing on? *tap* *tap*

[Ironchef]

I would guess that the entire "public relations" industry will only keep expanding over the next few decades, as corporations/governments/interest groups think that winning the battle of public opinion (meaning, making empty promises to the most people) will be more important than, say, making a better product, passing (or terminating) effective guvmint programs, and guiding social policy.

The biggest need to have a huge PR staff would be, the other side has a huge PR staff. That must be countered.

These are almost "make-work" jobs. Don't really contribute to the betterment of society, and at least in guvmint's case, a total waste. The government needs PR people to convince us that the government is worth it? WTF? You'd think that if a guvmint agency/program didn't have a clear purpose, value, and proven results, it would be terminated, right?

I mean, we all know what NASA at least attempts to achieve, but who the hell knows what the NDIC does?