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Thursday, February 01, 2007
FOIA Documents Show Collaboration Between Cincinnati Enquirer and The Pentagon
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Photo courtesy of here.
UPDATE, 4/4/08: Find related docs at this new location.
Yesterday, we published this retrospective—a piece detailing behind-the-scenes work on last year’s “Grandma in Iraq” blog hosted by The Enquirer. “Grandma,” otherwise known as Suzanne Fournier, worked doing PR for the Army Corp of Engineers, but her blog did not make that affiliation completely clear. This omission brought lots of negative attention, as critics claimed The Enquirer had engaged in pro-war propagandizing. Now, documents recently made available online from an open records request show The Pentagon involved with installing this propagandistic media enterprise into Cincinnati’s corporate news culture.
Check out this email exchange between The Enquirer’s William Croyle and Suzanne Fournier.
Croyle wrote an email asking for some of Fournier’s qualifications as a writer. What’s strange is that the letter indicates how The Enquirer had already sealed the deal on the blog before interviewing Fournier in any significant capacity:
Suzzane,
The people here who run our blogs think that one by you while in Iraq would be a great idea. They sent the following questions to me to send to you:
We need to be sure of her access, so we can guarantee posts on a pretty regular basis.
We’d like to look at a sample of her writing.
And we’d like to have some idea of what she thinks she will be writing about.
I assume if you have e-mail and will be on your computer regularly, the access won’t be an issue. As for a writing sample, maybe just a past press release or something like that will be fine. And tell me what you think you’ll be writing about. I’m guessing the more human interest (like your interaction with Iraqi people, etc), the better they’ll like it. Please respond ASAP and call me if you have questions. Thanks!
Bill
Here is Fournier’s response. I have placed in bold lettering where she indicates that people inside the Pentagon are pushing for this blog’s existence:
Bill,
Sorry I didn’t respond sooner, I was out at the Motor Vessel Mississippi with media and public visits all day. If your editors Google or Yahoo me, they will find that I’ve put out many press releases. The latest was the MV Mississippi announcement that you received in your office. I am trying to work the approvals from my end. What I intend to do with my blog is to record my observations and interaction with Iraq people, Corps people, US media, international media, and Iraq media. That is what my job entails and I won’t misrepresent who I am or why I am in Iraq. I’ll also be comparing Iraq quality of life to what we take for granted here in the US. I won’t just be doing a PR piece for the Corps of Engineers, but you will see observations about what the Corps has done in Iraq. When I go out to a school that the Corps has built or refurbished, you will hear about school children, or if I am at a hospital serving families, you will see pictures and observations on how this clinic serves that community. I will also do stories about the Corps people who work there and I’ll try to focus on people from this region so you have a local tie.
I have my request in several different offices of the Army. Two personal friends of mine who work at Department of the Army in the Pentagon are championing my request. I won’t go forward without official approval and I realize that you are in a similar situation. We are charting new waters and we both have to know the parameters of a safe channel. Thanks for the opportunity, I hope it works out for our mutual benefit, but it we can’t make it work, I understand. The article was well written, but I have told everyone you made one big error in fact. Actuall I am only 39. 
Thanks, Suzanne
I also find the statements about this blog relationship working “for our mutual benefit” noteworthy. What kind of benefit did Suzanne Fournier, or by extension the Army Corp of Engineers, expect to gain?
Additionally, this document is worth examining—if for no other reason than to wonder at all the information that has been redacted before releasing the communications to the public.
In one letter from the Chief of Policy and Doctrine for the Army Public Affairs Center (whose name has been redacted), Fournier was told the following:
Additionally, Fournier received messages from unknown Army sources stating that they would be monitoring her blog.
I am most interested in the August 30, 2005 email from Suzanne Fournier to an unknown recipient that has been completely redacted. This correspondence took place near the early stages of discussing the “Grandma in Iraq” blog—so the censoring of this document is curious, indeed.
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01 Feb 2007 at 12:51 pm | #
THE ENQUIRER??? PROPAGANDA??? I can’t believe it! I’m shocked AND awed! (picture my hands on my cheeks and my eyes and mouth wide open)
01 Feb 2007 at 02:21 pm | #
What this document really shows is that the Enquier knew that Grandma was nothing more than a mouth piece - and they hid that information. It would be fine for her to do the blog if everything were above board - she actually might have something to say. But the editors at the Enquier don’t hold themselves to the same standard as they would a public official. there’s little trust to be had with this paper.
01 Feb 2007 at 03:52 pm | #
The fact that the Pentagon was involved in giving clearance to this project shows that the Enquirer was acting as a willing propaganda arm for the Pentagon.
Long before Suzanne Fournier made her debut in the warm and fuzzy incarnation of “Grandma in Iraq,” she was a longtime Enquirer source and quoted expert, including as the Army’s representative on chemical weapons issues. In other words, the Enquirer knew exactly who she was from the get-go and it was a lot more than as only the local Corps of Engineers PR person.
When this first broke, editor Tom Callinan refused to say which Enquirer employee organized the project. Now we know it was William Croyle. Croyle’s contact info here.
But ultimately Callinan is responsible - it was his call. As far as we know, when the story broke, Callinan did nothing. He should have had a public airing of everything that went into this decision. Instead, all he did was to shut down the blog and make peevish comments about how annoyed he was that Editor & Publisher had covered the story.
01 Feb 2007 at 05:25 pm | #
If war is hell—journalism has become limbo.
02 Feb 2007 at 12:12 pm | #
Did anyone not know who she worked for? We read the blog and disputed when it had its facts wrong.
06 Feb 2007 at 08:04 am | #
What a great piece, Dean. I have highlighted it on my own site. Perfect example of the idiocy of calling for “blogger ethics.”