In May 2004, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined that the Bush administration violated federal law by releasing television 'news segments' that favorably depicted a new Medicare law -- without indicating that the government created and paid for the segments. On January 6, the GAO announced that the Bush administration again broke the law by producing similar 'news segments' about drug use, saying the segments 'constitute covert propaganda' because they did not identify the government as the source of the materials. The GAO added that the administration 'made it impossible for the targeted viewing audience to ascertain that these stories were produced by the government.'

"Media Matters," week ending January 7, 2005 ... [Media Matters for America]