Armstrong Williams

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Armstrong Williams
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Armstrong Williams
Born February 5, 1959 (1959-02-05) (age 49)
Marion, South Carolina
Occupation TV host, radio host, columnist, political activist
Religious beliefs Christian

Armstrong Williams (born February 5, 1959) is an African-American political commentator who writes a conservative newspaper column, hosts a nationally syndicated TV program called The Right Side, and hosts a daily radio show from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.[1] From 2004 to 2007, he co-hosted a daily radio program with Sam Greenfield, broadcast on WWRL 1600 in New York City.[citation needed]

In 2003 he launched his own company, The Right Side Productions, which produces and syndicates his television program to media outlets including Sky Angel Satellite Network, The Liberty Channel, etc. jointly with Langer Broadcast Radio Network.[1]

According to Williams's website, his newspaper column was syndicated by Tribune Media Services to "a wide array of African-American and mainstream newspapers". But in January 2005, his contract was terminated over his paid advocacy for Bush Administration education policy, which Williams did not disclose.

Contents

[edit] Background

A native of Marion, South Carolina, Williams was reared on the family’s tobacco farm with nine other siblings. He displayed an early gift for public speaking, winning a high school orating contest in 1976. Graduating in 1981 from South Carolina State University, he received his B.A. in Political Science and English.

An entrepreneur and third-generation Republican, Armstrong Williams was formerly vice president for governmental and international affairs public relations firm, B& C Associations. He also served as confidential assistant to the Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas), presidential appointee to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, legislative assistant to the U.S. Representative Carrol Campbell (former governor of South Carolina) and legislative aide and advisor to U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond.

In 1991, Williams began his radio career at WOL Radio, 1450 AM, in Washington, D.C. In 1995, Williams' local show was syndicated by The Talk America Radio Network. In 1998 Williams united with The Salem Radio Network which syndicated his national radio show to 26 of the top radio markets in the country. In 2002, he reunited with the Newark, New Jersey-based Talk America Radio Network.

From 2002 to 2005 Williams hosted “On Point” with Armstrong Williams, a monthly primetime television special that aired on cable network TV One. A joint venture among Comcast, Radio One, and Right Side Production, On Point with Armstrong Williams included guests such as Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In 2004, Williams was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Commission on White House Fellows. The Commission's responsibility is to select qualified candidates to serve as Fellows to Cabinet-rank offices.[citation needed] Past fellows have included Cheney, Powell and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. Williams has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR as a guest commentator. He joined the lineup at WWRL 1600 A.M.'s "New York's Urban Talk" in March 2005 as co-host with Sam Greenfield on Drive Time Dialogue.[citation needed]

In 2008, Williams began hosting a conservative talk show on XM Satellite Radio.

Williams is a National Board member of the Carson Scholars Fund, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) non-profit charity that was founded in 1994 by Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson to recognize and reward students in grades 4-11 who strive for academic excellence (3.75 GPA or higher) and demonstrate a strong commitment to their community.[citation needed]

[edit] Selling the Bush Administration's "No Child Left Behind" policy

In January 2005, USA Today reported that documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that Williams had been paid $240,000 to promote the controversial No Child Left Behind Act. Williams was hired "to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same". [2]

As part of the agreement, Williams was required "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004".[3] The contract with Williams was part of a $1 million contract between the U.S. Department of Education and the public relations company, Ketchum Inc.

Melanie Sloan from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington told USA Today that the contract may be illegal "because Congress has prohibited propaganda ... [A]nd it's propaganda". United States Representative George Miller (D-CA), a member of the House Education Committee, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers' money" that is "probably illegal". [4] Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington was founded in 2001 by Melanie Sloan, a former aide to Representative John Conyers and Senator Charles Schumer.

After the USA Today revelations, Tribune Media Services terminated its syndication agreement with Williams. In a statement to Editor and Publisher (not available on its website), TMS stated: "[A]ccepting compensation in any form from an entity that serves as a subject of his weekly newspaper columns creates, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest. Under these circumstances, readers may well ask themselves if the views expressed in his columns are his own, or whether they have been purchased by a third party".[5] Williams told Associated Press "even though I'm not a journalist — I'm a commentator — I feel I should be held to the media ethics standard. My judgment was not the best. I wouldn't do it again, and I learned from it." [2]

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said it was a matter for the Education Department. According to Associated Press the Department of Education stated that the deal was a "permissible use of taxpayer funds under legal government contracting procedures".[3] McClellan remained noncommittal on whether White House staff knew of the deal with Williams. "I'm not sure that senior staff was consulted before this decision was made. I haven't heard anything to that effect", he said. [6] Three days after the story broke, McClellan claimed he was unaware of the details of the contract and that specific questions should be directed to the Education Department. As to whether Williams should have disclosed the details of the contract in his columns and on-air appearances, McClellan would only concede that "those are all legitimate questions". Asked whether he would investigate whether other journalists were on the payroll of the administration, McClellan replied, "I'm not aware of any others that are under contract other than the one that's been reported on in the media."[citation needed]

Following the revelations of the Williams contract with Ketchum, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington announced that it had filed Freedom of Information requests with 22 agencies requesting copies of all contracts with public relation firms. [7]

The USA Today revelations caused controversy within the PR industry as well. As soon as the story broke, Edelman Public Relations' CEO Richard Edelman posted a note on his personal blog criticizing Ketchum's deal with Williams. "This kind of pay for play public relations takes us back in time to the days of the press agent who would drop off the new record album and $10 to the deejay. It makes our industry's efforts to 'clean up' behavior in newly created PR markets such as China and Russia look decidedly ridiculous", he wrote.[8] The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) issued a statement saying "the relationship should have been disclosed up front, no question".[9]

On January 26, 2005 a similar arrangement surfaced between Maggie Gallagher and the Department of Health and Human Services involving her paid support of the Bush administration's "healthy marriage" initiative, which she did not disclose. On January 28, 2005 it was revealed that Michael McManus, a syndicated columnist who writes Ethics & Religion, was paid up to $10,000 to support the administration's marriage initiative to divert funds from welfare to marital counselling, which he did not disclose.[10]

On September 30, 2005, the Government Accountability Office released a report concluding that the payments to Williams were illegal on the part of the Department of Education because the government's role in the public relations effort was not disclosed. [11]

[edit] Other business interests

Williams is also the CEO of the Graham Williams Group, which is described as an "international public relations firm with clients in entertainment, politics, business and charitable organizations". [12]

[edit] See also

[edit] Books by Williams

  • Armstrong Williams, Letters to a young victim: Hope and Healing in America's Inner Cities, Scribner Paper Fiction, October 1996. ISBN 0-684-82466-3
  • Armstrong Williams, Beyond Blame: How We Can Succeed by Breaking the Dependency Barrier, Free Press, May 1995. ISBN 0-02-935365-3

[edit] External links

This article uses content from the SourceWatch article on Armstrong Williams under the terms of the GFDL.