(08-31) 04:00 PDT Washington -- U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public-relations contract that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.
The contract calls for assembling a database of selected news stories and assessing their tone as part of a program to provide public relations that would improve coverage of the military command's performance, according to a statement of work attached to the proposal.
The request for bids comes when Bush administration officials are criticizing media coverage of the war in Iraq.
The proposal, which calls in part for extensive monitoring and analysis of Iraqi, Middle East and U.S. media, is designed to help coalition forces understand "the communications environment." Its goal is to "develop communication strategies and tactics, identify opportunities, and execute events ... to effectively communicate Iraqi government and coalition's goals, and build support among our strategic audiences in achieving these goals," according to the statement of work that is publicly available through the Web site www.fbodaily.com.
A public relations practitioner who asked for anonymity because he may be involved in a bid on the contract said that military commanders "are overwhelmed by the media out there and are trying to understand how to get their information out. They want (news) to be received by audiences as it is transmitted (by them), but they don't like how it turns out."
The proposal calls for monitoring "Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international and U.S. national and regional markets media in both Arabic and English." That includes broadcast and cable television outlets, the Pentagon channel, two wire services and three major U.S. newspapers.
Monitors are to select stories that deal with specific issues, such as security, reconstruction activities, high profile coalition force activities and events in which Iraqi security forces are in the lead. The monitors are to analyze stories to determine the "dissemination of key themes and messages" along with whether the tone is positive, neutral or negative. The media outlets would be monitored for how they present coalition or anti-Iraqi force operations.
