FEMA Press Secretary Directed Fake News Briefing, Inquiry Finds

FEMA PRESS SECRETARY DIRECTED FAKE NEWS BRIEFING, INQUIRY FINDS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Spencer Hsu]
An internal investigation into a fake news conference staged by the Federal Emergency Management Agency during last month's California wildfires found that the agency's press secretary directed aides to pose as reporters, secretly coached them during the briefing and ended the event after a final, scripted question was asked. The inquiry, completed Monday, left several unanswered questions. It could not corroborate accounts that the agency's No. 2 official, Harvey E. Johnson Jr., was told before he led the Oct. 23 briefing that FEMA staff members would pose questions. Nor did the inquiry fully explain the event's rushed timing. FEMA announced the news conference at its Southwest Washington headquarters about 15 minutes before it was to begin at 1 p.m., making it unlikely that reporters could attend. None did, and real reporters listening on a telephone conference line were barred from asking questions. FEMA officials hurriedly went ahead with the event, and Johnson, who was live on some cable news channels, praised FEMA's response as far better than its reaction to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The review "found nothing that indicated malicious or preconceived intent to deceive the media or the public," said FEMA's acting director of external affairs, Russ Knocke, who conducted the inquiry. "As an aside, the content of the press event was accurate," Knocke said Wednesday night. "It is obvious that there was a significant lack of leadership within FEMA external affairs."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/AR2007110801676.html
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