Raw obtains CENTCOM email to bloggers

RAW STORYPublished: Monday October 16, 2006

An email sent by United States Central Command (CENTCOM) to bloggers about the "global war on terror" (GWOT) has been obtained by RAW STORY.

CENTCOM announced earlier this year that a team of employees would be "[engaging] bloggers who are posting inaccurate or untrue information, as well as bloggers who are posting incomplete information."

The email was not addressed to RAW STORY.

"The main interest is to drive their readers to our site," Maj. Richard J. McNorton, chief of CENTCOM "engagement operations" said in a March release.

In the same announcement, McNorton said that the emails have a "viral effect," as many bloggers then link to the CENTCOM website, driving Internet news consumers to CENTCOM's Web site.

"Now [online readers] have the opportunity to read positive stories. At least the public can go there and see the whole story," he insisted. "The public wants to hear these good stories."

The email, in its entirety, follows:
#
Subject: CENTCOM.mil: Just visited your site Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:36:07 -0400 From: "Erickson, Christopher J. SPC USA" [redacted by RAW STORY] To: [redacted by RAW STORY]

Greetings!

My name is SPC Chris Erickson with U.S. Central Command Public Affairs. I came across your blog today and noticed your interest in different topics, particularly on the GWOT.

As a member of the US military, I like seeing open discussions on the happenings of the world, although many times I’m not able to get involved (especially if it gets political). I would like to invite you to check out our web site, www.centcom.mil. It’s one more resource for information and you’re free to use any of it (video, audio, photos and articles) in conversations on your blog.

Also, if you would like, you can be added to our mailing list. We send out news stories and press releases about US military and coalition forces operations, humanitarian and reconstruction efforts. This information is also available via RSS on our site. Most of the time we can get CENTCOM information out to bloggers before it appears in the main stream media.

I appreciate your time today and I do look forward to hearing back from you.

V/R

Spc. Chris Erickson Electronic Media Engagement Team U.S. Central Command Public Affairs [redacted by RAW STORY] http://www.centcom.mil

LinkHere