The New York Times published “MESSAGE MACHINE; Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand” on April 20, 2008. The article is a scathing critique of the practices of a collective group of military analysts, who were inundated with positive talking-points on the situation of the Iraq war.

The Times claimed that “Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.” Though not a mere quid pro quo relationship, the analysts’ high military access to otherwise confidential information was in some way a bargaining point. The Times again, “Conversely, the administration has demonstrated that there is a price for sustained criticism, many analysts said. ‘You’ll lose all access,’ Dr. McCausland said.

The Times acquired this information by successfully suing the Defense Department “to gain access to 8,000 pages of e-mail messages, transcripts and records describing years of private briefings, trips to Iraq and Guantánamo and an extensive Pentagon talking points operation.”

Among the information concerning the military analysts was found certain documents implying payment for pro U.S. propaganda to be published in the Iraqi press.

In response to these allegations a group of the aforementioned analysts wrote to the New York Times, “We have never stated anything about defense or national security that we did not believe to be true,” and that they will continue to inform the public “through the prism of our extensive professional military experience.”