Jingoistic Propaganda At Its' Finest

My blood is boiling. I can't get an op-ed in the South Bend Tribune without an address, phone number and practically a pint of blood. But a 50k circulation newspaper will take FOR THEIR NEWS SECTION an emailed in, multi-author ROSY SCENARIO regular column from Iraq?

Editor & Publisher

Column By Commander In Iraq Sparks Newsroom Controversy

By Joe Strupp

Published: April 09, 2007 2:45 PM ET

NEW YORK The Savannah (Ga.) Morning News has sparked some controversy in its own newsroom today for publishing a first-person piece on the front page of its Metro section by a U.S. Army commander in Iraq, which the paper's editor says will run every two weeks.

Editor Susan Catron said publishing the column by Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, who is deployed with the Third Infantry Division in Iraq, was "a tough call" given that some might see it as inappropriate, especially placed on the front of the Metro section. But she said the voice of a military commander in the region is worth having in a paper that serves a circulation area with some 20,000 residents linked to the military through nearby Fort Stewart Army Base.

(snip)

Catron said Monday that Lynch is not paid for the column, adding that at least three newsroom staffers have complained about it. "They were objecting to it and there is a valued argument there," she said, noting that one of those who objected was the paper's military reporter, who could not immediately be reached for comment. "Our military reporter is quite concerned and we are not finished talking about it."

Among the complaints is that the piece ran on a news page instead of an editorial or Op-Ed page. In print it is labeled "commentary" but online it is simply "story." It does not make clear if Lynch wrote the entire piece, or if it was ghost written by a public affairs person. The names of two other military officials, who were unreachable by phone Monday, are listed at the bottom as having contributed to the report.

Something really stinks here. I wonder how many other "mid-sized" papers are getting similiar requests from "U.S. Commanders In Iraq".
Read the article here