Another Journalist Got Bush Administration Payola

By: E&P Staff Another federal agency has admitted to paying a journalist -- this time, a magazine writer.

The Department of Agriculture gave freelancer Dave Smith $9,375 in 2003 to "research and write articles for hunting and fishing magazines describing the benefits of NRCS [Natural Resources Conservation Service] programs," according to a USA Today story.

Smith's articles appeared in "Outdoor Oklahoma" and "Washington-Oregon Game & Fish" -- neither of which identified the writer as being government-paid.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the federal Department of Education paid syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams, and that the federal Department of Health and Human Services paid syndicated columnists Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus.