Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Armstrong Williams: Master of Zakazuka

How about appointing outsiders to investigate the payment to Armstrong Williams and make their report public? That's what CBS and USA Today did. Are there other undisclosed deals with commentators friendly to the Bush administration? USA Today deserves credit for disclosing Williams's cozy arrangement with the Education Department. The payment to Williams, which was funneled through a major public relations firm, would be called "payola" in the music business and "grease" in Chicago politics. In Russia, where I worked as a newspaper consultant 10 years ago, it would be called "zakazuka," which means "journalism on order." In any language, it's disgraceful. Williams acknowledged he had shown "bad judgment" but would not return the money. Tribune Media Services stopped distributing his newspaper column. The Senate committee that oversees Education Department spending wants to review all the department's contracts with public relations firms. Education Secretary Rod Paige said the department's inspector general will examine the Williams deal. That's not good enough in my book. The two outsiders who investigated the discredited CBS report about George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard came down hard on those who put it together, and four news professionals lost their jobs. The three independent editors who reviewed the history of fabrications by reporter Jack Kelley severely reprimanded USA Today's news leadership, and the top edtor resigned. Williams said he has "no doubt" that other commentators have arrangements with the government similar to his. Oh, really? Then it seems to me that a panel of outsiders should carefully study the government's PR practices -- and not just in the Education Department. If they find something wrong, heads should roll -- government heads. In Russia, zakazuka is a way of life. In the United States, spending taxpayers money on "covert propaganda" is against the law.