WATCHERS: Feds paid man $9,000 a month to “MONITOR MEDIA” for negative media coverage

[Generic Other]

he Coast Guard… $9,000 per month for two months to John Brooks Rice of New Orleans, an on-call worker for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, under a no-bid contract to monitor media coverage from late May through July.

Rice told the AP that he compiled print and video news stories and offered his subjective appraisal of the tone of the coverage. “From reading and watching the media I would create reports,” he said. “I reported either positive coverage, negative coverage, misinformation coverage.”

The Coast Guard provided the AP with a copy of two of Rice’s printouts of news stories but didn’t respond to a request for copies of his reports rating the tone of news stories. Rice said he had already deleted them. The AP requested copies of all Rice’s reports under the Freedom of Information Act but hasn’t received them. …

The Coast Guard said it didn’t ask for competitive bids because it urgently needed the work done. In the newly released federal data, the government didn’t disclose Rice’s name, instead misidentifying him as “miscellaneous foreign contractors.”

http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/watchers-feds-paid-man-9000-month-monitor-media-negative-media-coverage

[EFerrari]

1. K&R

[nosmokes]

2. hard to believe this shares the uniform with the heroes that are out on

the water and involved in rescues.



















edited to clarify: not the 'watchers' but the folks worried about the image because of actions taken/deals made.

[Mimosa]

3. Oh. My. God.

President Obama, please help. :(

[Curmudgeoness]

4. I would have done it for half that. Actually, I think most people on DU

are already doing more research than this one did. And we do it for free. Are we stupid or what!

[Generic Other]

6. We have consciences...most here try and post accurate info

Big difference. The researchers here deserve kudos. If not for them, I would be perpetually uninformed about many things.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Tell me about it! I am always grateful for the info I get here. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Why the F...is the Coast Guard monitoring the news

in that timeline. For BP? 45 % of American households not paying federal income taxes.