Exclusive: The federal government paid hundreds of media companies to advertise the COVID-19 vaccines while those same outlets provided positive coverage of the vaccines

Via The Blaze

In response to a FOIA request filed by TheBlaze, HHS revealed that it purchased advertising from major news networks including ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as cable TV news stations Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, legacy media publications including the New York Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post, digital media companies like BuzzFeed News and Newsmax, and hundreds of local newspapers and TV stations. These outlets were collectively responsible for publishing countless articles and video segments regarding the vaccine that were nearly uniformly positive about the vaccine in terms of both its efficacy and safety.

Hundreds of news organizations were paid by the federal government to advertise for the vaccines as part of a “comprehensive media campaign,” according to documents TheBlaze obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services. The Biden administration purchased ads on TV, radio, in print, and on social media to build vaccine confidence, timing this effort with the increasing availability of the vaccines. The government also relied on earned media featuring “influencers” from “communities hit hard by COVID-19” and “experts” like White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and other academics to be interviewed and promote vaccination in the news.

Though virtually all of these newsrooms produced stories covering the COVID-19 vaccines, the taxpayer dollars flowing to their companies were not disclosed to audiences in news reports, since common practice dictates that editorial teams operate independently of media advertising departments and news teams felt no need to make the disclosure, as some publications reached for comment explained.

The Biden administration engaged in a massive campaign to educate the public and promote vaccination as the best way to prevent serious illness or death from COVID-19.

Congress appropriated $1 billion in fiscal year 2021 for the secretary of health to spend on activities to “strengthen vaccine confidence in the United States.” Federal law authorizes HHS to act through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies to award contracts to public and private entities to “carry out a national, evidence-based campaign to increase awareness and knowledge of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for the prevention and control of diseases, combat misinformation about vaccines, and disseminate scientific and evidence-based vaccine-related information, with the goal of increasing rates of vaccination across all ages … to reduce and eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Anyone who has spent time reading the news, watching TV news coverage, or browsing social media in the past year has more than likely been exposed to the government’s advertising. HHS ads posted to YouTube have been viewed millions of times and commercials featuring celebrities like singer Sir Elton John and actor Sir Michael Caine have been the subject of news coverage, such as this feature from NBC News:

Elton John, Michael Caine Appear In Comic Covid Vaccine Ad | NBC News NOW youtu.be

“Fear-based vaccine ads” from HHS featuring “survivor” stories from coronavirus patients who were hospitalized in intensive care units were covered by CNN and discussed on ABC’s “The View” when they were unveiled last October.

Though the federal government was paying each of these companies and others for pro-vaccine advertising while news reports covered the same vaccines, many editorial boards say they have firewall policies that prevent advertisers from influencing news coverage.

“Advertisers pay for space to share their messages, as was the case here, and those ads are clearly labeled as such,” explained Shani George, vice president of communications for the Washington Post, in a statement. “The newsroom is completely independent from the advertising department,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Times gave a similar statement, emphasizing that the “newsroom operates independently from advertising.”

TheBlaze reached out to several other publications that either declined to comment or did not respond before publication.

The COVID-19 Public Education Campaign by HHS also used earned media outreach — word of mouth marketing — with the goal of having “trusted messengers and influencers” speak to news organizations to “provide factual, timely information and steps people can take to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”

As a result of that effort, various government officials have frequently been quoted by reporters covering the COVID-19 pandemic, offering factual information on vaccine efficacy and safety. An October article from BuzzFeed News featuring the “essential facts” about who is eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot, for example, reported pro-vaccine statements from CDC director Rochelle Walensky, FDA official Peter Marks, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, and University of California, San Francisco epidemiologist George Rutherford.

The article stressed how studies show “boosters work” and cited FDA data that suggests getting a booster shot “can reestablish strong protection against the virus.” BuzzFeed News advised everyone age 65 or older, people with health conditions that put them at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19, those like healthcare workers who are at risk from coming into contact with COVID-19 positive people for work, and anyone in areas with high virus transmission to get vaccine boosters, in accordance with guidance from the CDC.

Other publications, such as the Los Angeles Times, featured advice from experts on how readers could convince vaccine-hesitant people in their lives to change their minds. The Washington Post covered “the pro-vaccine messages people want to hear.” Newsmax has reported how the vaccines have “been demonstrated to be safe and effective” and “encouraged citizens, especially those at risk, to get immunized.”

HHS did not immediately respond when asked if the agency used taxpayer dollars to pay for people to be interviewed, or for a PR firm to place them in interviews with news outlets.

Since the COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson were given emergency approval for use in the United States last year, more than 215 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. An estimated 94.6 million people have also received at least one booster dose. About 65% of the U.S. population has now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including 75% of U.S. adults and 88.8% of seniors.

HHS has not yet revealed how much advertising money was spent on each media platform.

-----------------------------------------------------
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal

-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
Click to visit the TBP Store for Great TBP Merchandise

18
Leave a Reply

avatar
  Subscribe  
Notify of
Southern Sage
Southern Sage

How very interesting. There is a Federal law which prohibits the CIA from providing funding to any foreign news organization if the purpose (or result) is to influence U.S. public opinion. Of course, influencing foreign opinion is OK.

Steve Z.
Steve Z.

Sage,
I’m sure that CIA funding is an inviolate line that would never be crossed.
……giggle.

Anonymous
Anonymous

That law was the Smith-Mundt Act. It was repealed almost a decade ago.

Ken31
Ken31

Allowed to expire, was the chicanery used. CONgress always gives themselves an out from having to claim responsibility for something as deliberate as a repeal.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I think I read a story last week that said the Obama admin repealed that law.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Looks like Glenn Beck is getting some of that money.
This article is a whitewash of all the lies and propaganda.

Shamrock rocker
Shamrock rocker

Send me boatloads of cash. I’ll give you all the fair coverage money can buy.

Anonymous
Anonymous

After the onslaught of deaths and injuries mounting up used car prices should drop , housing prices should also drop . Dead and dying don’t drive cars or need a home they just need a comfortable place to reciprocate or die .
Looks like the WEF , Bill Gates WHO population reduction plan is working .
Good thing these vaccines are safe and effective !
Regarding that Billion dollars pissed away , let’s take it out of the budget from all the agencies involved and reward all unvaccinated with a payment for what they lost and the anguish for 2 years of leftist bull shit and lies !
Raid their retirement accounts too ! Pain and suffering where it hurts these parasitic government piles of shit the most their fucking wallets

Saxons Wrath

A billion dollars is chump change for what our citizens have to suffer because of government abuse and illegal mandates.

Long on rope, lampposts, and politicians and bureaucrats!!!

Some assembly required….

OriginalDan
OriginalDan

Some real cutting edge research by the Blaze, Their report the obvious department must of been working overtime.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I hope these pieces of shit know we are coming for them. Even WW III won’t stop justice.

nkit
nkit

“Even more disturbing is what Emerald Robinson reports from anonymous sources at Newsmax, from which she was let go a few months ago.”

“Let me add some personal details to the largest corporate media scandal of the year: I have been contacted by a whistleblower inside Newsmax who has confirmed the broad details of this story. That insider confirms: Newsmax executives agreed to take the money from Biden’s Health and Human Services (HHS) to push only positive coverage of the new COVID vaccines.”

“Let me add another personal detail: I was contacted by top Newsmax executives and told to halt any negative coverage of the vaccines in 2021. I was told that “it was problematic” for Newsmax. I was given some version of this warning multiple times by multiple executives. Obviously, I did not heed their advice.”

“Of course, almost everyone else employed in the corporate media did keep their mouths shut. I discussed the outright ban on negative vaccine coverage with other Newsmax producers and top anchors at the time, and they were aware that they could not provide negative coverage of the news vaccines without repercussions from the network. I was contacted by PR experts who worked with Newsmax and was told that medical experts and doctors who might say negative things about the new vaccines would not be booked as guests at all.”

“In other words, the Biden Administration’s money did not just pay for pro-vaccine advertising at outlets like Fox and Newsmax: it paid for an outright ban on any negative coverage. There’s a word for that kind of thing, and the word is: propaganda. Corporate news executives with no medical training and no expertise began to make ludicrous announcements that were basically blanket endorsements of the deadly and untested vaccines.”

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/03/how_the_federal_government_bought_procovid_vax_propaganda_and_silenced_critical_voices.html

tabarnac
tabarnac

So far paying journalists to not do journalism is working pretty well. The payments can’t last forever though especially now they’ve been exposed. The next method for “controlling the narrative” is just shoot the journalist. There is a piece today in Unz about this. I recommend you don’t read it.

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

This is an engineered, pre-planned strategy to destroy the United States of America, and by extension, the last functioning remnants of the Western populations and their culture.

This has nothing to do with health. This isn’t about safety, security , Russia, inflation, supply lines, China, the National debt or any of the myriad rhetorical devices used by the operators of this genocidal program. The goal is to eliminate any resistance to their final consolidation of power and resources prior to the final culling of the population.

Everything else is set decoration.

Stop going down every rabbit hole designed to steal your time and energy, place you efforts in these last remaining days to prepare for what is already upon us.

ILuvCO2
ILuvCO2

Of course. Once we are off the dollar, it’s a done deal.
Time to order a boatload of juice and coils.

Discover more from The Burning Platform

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading