My Uncle Billy spent the last days of his working life in what he considered a cushy job: appraising real estate for the county. The end result of his work determined people's property taxes, and he had plenty of tales to tell, as might be expected when what you do has a direct financial impact on somebody else. The tales always ended with the assertive somebody saying, "I guess you can't be bought," to which Billy would retort, "Oh, I can be bought! It's just that nobody has that kind of money."

I've borrowed his punch line from time to time, especially in circumstances when somebody is pushing me to do something I'm just not going to do, although they insist the benefits would be spectacular. At the same time, this scenario requires that I see it coming.

What about when I - or you - don't see it coming?

And there's the fragile line between being bought and being taken.

New York Times reporters David Barstow and Robin Stein have broken a story which makes January's Armstrong Williams situation look like the tip of the iceberg. Mr. Williams, if you will recall, received $240,000 from the US Department of Education on the one hand, and on the other hand, used his newspaper column to repeatedly tout the benefits of the No Child Left Behind Act. That news story broke when it was noticed that he had two hands.

It turns out that some 20 federal government agencies across the board have been spending millions of dollars to create "video news releases." And how many millions? Try $254 million. At least, that's the number which the Democrats in Congress have come up with as being spent on public relations contracts during the first Bush Administration. And Congress' Government Accountability Office is of the opinion that these news segments are likely "covert propaganda" even if it clearly discloses the government produced it.

So that's the point: What is the difference between the federal government responsibly keeping its citizenry informed and covert propaganda?

To be accurate, this practice began in a small way during the first Clinton Administration, and has steadily escalated ever since. Post 9/11, video news releases have carried the grateful reaction of Iraqi-Americans to the invasion of Iraq, the protective security efforts being made at airports, even the wonderful new opportunities given to the beleaguered, burka-clad women of Afghanistan. From the Department of Agriculture to the Census Bureau to the Department of Defense, hundreds of television segments have been churned out.

A popular "fake news reporter" - to borrow what is actually an accurate term from "The Daily Report with Jon Stewart" - is Karen Ryan. Once a journalist at ABC and PBS, she has since become a public relations professional and has appeared as a so-called "reporter" in a series of these segments, signing off with the phrase "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."

But this has its downsides. Her work on a piece on Medicare prescription drug benefits earned her the headline: "Karen Ryan, You're a Phony" in an editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. And while she readily describes herself in this role as a "paid shill for the Bush Administration," she has apparently only received about $5,000 for her efforts.

So, let's get back to Uncle Billy. Karen Ryan gets $5,000 and can never show her face in a news room again. Armstrong Williams gets $240,000 and remains a pundit, although he has lost his syndicated newspaper column.

And me? I'd just like everybody to know: I can be bought … but the US government just doesn't have that kind of money.

I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.

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