PR giant admits Armstrong Williams deal violated industry guidelines

The public relations firm that arranged for pundit Armstrong Williams to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education program admitted Wednesday that the deal with Williams violated "the guidelines of our agency and our industry."

The statement by Ketchum Inc. came on the same day that Bush's nominee for Education secretary, Margaret Spelling, promised to review the promotional tactics used by the Department of Education.

USA TODAY reported this month that Ketchum, as part of a $1 million contract with the Education Department, paid Williams $240,000 to "regularly comment" on No Child Left Behind during his syndicated TV talk show. The contract also called on Williams to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for spots that aired during the show in 2004.

The arrangement raises questions about whether the Education Department broke the law by using taxpayers' money to pay for "propaganda," and whether Williams and Ketchum should have disclosed the commentator's deal to his viewers, readers of his syndicated newspaper column and listeners of his radio show.

The Education Department's inspector general pledged Wednesday to investigate "potential covert propaganda" in "current and past similar contracts." The Federal Communications Commission also is examining whether the deal violated "payola" provisions of the Communications Act.

In its statement, first published in PRWeek magazine, Ketchum acknowledged a "lapse in judgment" and said it "should have encouraged greater disclosure" by Williams.

"We regret this has occurred," the company said in the statement.

....read it all: PR firm admits deal broke rules by Mark Memmott and Greg Toppo, USA Today, 20 January 2005.