Hand in the bag

It's tempting to rejoice since it unveils Republican manoeuvers, but it's mostly very bad news for the media in general.

[$241,000 ] That's the sum that television and newspaper commentator Armstrong Williams received from the department for agreeing to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education reform legislation. Williams says that the contract he signed with Ketchum Inc., a public relations firm hired by the Education Department, not only paid for advertisements during his show but also to "regularly comment on the No Child Left Behind act during the course of his broadcasts" and to encourage other producers to do so as well.

Ugly. Let's hope other journalists got the message.