When Messaging & Marketing Are Sold As Transparency and Information

Fact Checking Obama Administration’s Report on Stimulus

For all of you who think traditional journalism is dead or would be happy to see it die, the Associated Press reminds us tonight what the watchdog is all about.

Vice President Joe Biden released a report today regarding progress made with funds from the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – the stimulus bill.  I looked at it.  It’s pretty weak beer.

Here’s part of what the Associated Press wrote tonight:

But the effect of that spending is less clear. Many of the claims the White House is making are based on anecdotes selected to fit the Obama administration’s message. For instance, the report cites a newspaper article about workers being rehired at a factory in Chicago. That account is true, but is no more an accurate snapshot of the nation’s economy than a story, not cited in the report, about a Roanoke, Va., railcar factory closing. (Read More)

The Obama Administration report also says that 150,000 jobs have been saved or created.  How could one even begin to get to a number like that so soon?  The report doesn’t mention – but the AP does – that since February the nation has lost 1.3 million jobs.

President Obama is not well served by flooding the Internets and airwaves with pablum.  Every time you turn around there’s another “.gov” site out there promising real information and transparency.  What we get instead is messaging wrapped in slick graphics.  Everything seems to be a mile wide but an inch deep.

I had high hopes for an information presidency, what we’ve gotten instead is the Ronald Reagan communications team with better technology.

There is a lot of good going on with this Administration.  Creating bullshit, releasing it and then patting yourself on the back for being “transparent” is not in the category of good.  It’s in the category of annoying.