FCC probes role of military analysts in war-related broadcasts

Federal regulators are looking into allegations that a number of military analysts failed to disclose their ties to the Pentagon when they appeared on television to discuss the Iraq war, according to U.S. News & World Report.

"In its letter signed by the chief of the investigations and hearings division enforcement bureau, the FCC suggests that TV stations and networks may have violated two sections of the Communications Act of 1934 by not identifying the ties to the Pentagon that their military analysts had," the magazine says in its Washington Whispers column.

The Wall Street Journal says an FCC spokesman confirmed the letters, but wouldn't otherwise comment on the investigation, which appears to have grown out of a New York Times report that said the Pentagon was using former commanders and current contractors to influence public opinion.