It was only a matter of time before an enterprising journalist dug up proof of the Bush Administration paying another reporter for favorable coverage. The Washington Post's Christopher Lee has the scoop:

An Agriculture Department agency paid a freelance writer at least $7,500 to write articles touting federal conservation programs and place them in outdoors magazines, according to agency records and interviews.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service hired freelancer Dave Smith in September 2003 to "research and write articles for hunting and fishing magazines describing the benefits of NRCS Farm Bill programs to wildlife habitat and the environment," according to agency procurement documents obtained by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Smith, contracted to craft five stories for $1,875 each, also was to "contact and work magazine editors to place the articles in targeted publications," the records show.

Bribing journalists for positive coverage is one of the lowest forms of corruption as it completely undermines public trust in both the government and the media. The Bush Administration must stop this egregious policy at once the American public can begin to restore its faith that it is not being force fed propaganda from the government.