Pentagon propaganda increasing

A good story from an AP investigative report describing how the Pentagon's resources for PR and propaganda have increased. It "found that over the past five years, the money the military spends on winning hearts and minds at home and abroad has grown by 63 percent, to at least $4.7 billion this year, according to Department of Defense budgets and other documents. That's almost as much as it spent on body armor for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2004 and 2006. This year, the Pentagon will employ 27,000 people just for recruitment, advertising and public relations — almost as many as the total 30,000-person work force in the State Department."

The Pentagon has a news service called "Hometown News Service" which distributes stories to newsrooms across the country, but not mentioning to readers the affiliation of the authors (Pentagon staff). For instance, "In 2009, Hometown News plans to put out 5,400 press releases, 3,000 television releases and 1,600 radio interviews, among other work — 50 percent more than in 2007."

Also see this story that gives more information on the Pentagon's increase in its TV programs, internet websites, etc.