Federal government spent billions on PR videos, web sites

A government watchdog group took a close look at how much the federal government spends on self-promotion and found that the U.S. government is essentially the second-largest PR firm in the world.

Listen to this:

Over the past eight years, federal agencies spent more than $4.35 billion on public relations while employing 3,100 public affairs officers, according to OpenTheBooks.com. They discovered the average federal public affairs officer is paid $100,000 per year --70 percent higher than their private sector equivalent.
What’s more, the feds have procured large contracts with outside PR firms to further their promotional activities.

In a column published by Forbes, Adam Andrzejewski, director of OpenTheBooks, describes the huge amount of tax dollars spent on PR. Here are some examples, based on U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) documents:

… We uncovered an 83% high-to-low difference in the hourly rate for “interns” billed on approved federal contracts by outside contractors. Ketchum bills the federal agencies $88.26 per hour, or $183,581 per year, for their “intern” position. But, Hills + Knowlton Strategies bills $48.36 ($100,589 per year). Other firms like Fleishman-Hillard and Ogilvy bill between $55.21 per hour ($114,837 per year) and $60.76 per hour ($126,381 per year). … Ketchum also bills the U.S. government for “web developers” at $186.33 per hour, or $387,566 per year, and “video producers” for $242.72 – $273.67 per hour, or up to $569,234 per year. 

There’s more. The federal contractor, American Institutes for Research (AIRS), charges $214,395 for the “cost” of a fancy “z-card”–a wallet-sized plastic card with a fold-out paper insert. “Translation services” cost $677.08 per hour. Incidentally, last year, 16 AIRS executives made nearly $9 million in compensation and the “non-profit” banked over $27 million, with more than $266 million in the bank, mostly from federal contracts.

Then, there’s a “minimum wage” of $1.192 million per year for an advertising executive at Booz Allen Hamilton. Booz Allen has a 5-year contract with the feds that allows them to bill the government for 70 positions ranging from $64 per hour for a “communications specialist” to $525 per hour ($1.192 million per year) for their “executive manager.” Booz is billing for two positions at over $500 per hour, three positions at over $400 per hour, six positions at $300 per hour, 15 positions at over $200 per hour (and) 32 positions at over $100 per hour.

So, is this money well spent, a sterling effort to improve public opinion? Well, just consider the reputation of the federal government.