"Project Screened Speakers for Dissenting Views," by Jonathan S. Landay - McClatchy Newspapers (Washington, DC), 2 November 2006, as carried in the Philadelphia Inquirer
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials screened the public statements and writings of private citizens for criticism of the Bush administration before deciding whether to select them for foreign speaking projects, an internal State Department review has found.
The screenings amounted to "virtual censorship" in the State Department's selection of speakers, a report by the department's Inspector General's Office said. McClatchy Newspapers obtained a copy of the 22-page report, which was completed in September....
The vetting appears to be contrary to the guidelines of the U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program, which taps U.S. experts to deliver lectures, serve as consultants and conduct seminars overseas or from the United States via teleconferences. The guidelines call for the State Department to provide speakers "who represent a broad range of responsible and informed opinion in the United States" and are "not limited to the expression of U.S. government policies."
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, requested a review of the program after a news story in December quoted State Department officials as saying that political litmus tests were being used to weed out speakers who were critical of the Bush administration.
Biden said it was wrong for senior State Department officials to have practiced virtual censorship. He said he would urge Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, who oversees the speakers' program, "to ensure that this is not repeated on her watch."
The Inspector General's Office recommended that the Bureau of International Information Programs, which runs the speakers' program, adopt new rules to ensure that speakers were chosen "based on the quality of their credentials" and "their ability to communicate... regardless of their personal opinions on policy issues."
There was no response from bureau officials to several requests for a comment on the report.
For excerpts from an earlier report on this, see KR: State Dept. Screening Private Speakers on Political Views.
Comments