The February 20, 2002 was a Wednesday under the star sign of ♓. It was the 50 day of the year. President of the United States was George W. Bush.
If you were born on this day, you are 24 years old. Your last birthday was on the Friday, February 20, 2026, 112 days ago. Your next birthday is on Saturday, February 20, 2027, in 252 days. You have lived for 8,878 days, or about 213,084 hours, or about 12,785,075 minutes, or about 767,104,500 seconds.
Date: 20 February 2002
Editorial decries Pentagon's plans to establish secretive Office of Strategic Influenceto manage news regarding US war against global terrorism; says program would undermine rather than reinforce government's broader efforts to build international support since it calls for planting false stories in foreign press and running other covert activities to manipulate public opinion (S)
Date: 20 February 2002
By James Brooke
James Brooke
Barrage of propaganda unleashed by North Korean news agency to upstage Pres Bush's arrival in South Korea discussed (M)
Date: 20 February 2002
By Thomas J. Lueck
Thomas Lueck
George Polk Awards for excellence in journalism are announced; New York Times wins for national reporting for broad coverage of terrorism attacks for special section A Nation Challenged, with particular mention to biographical sketches of victims of World Trade Center attacks under heading Portraits of Grief; Times reporter Barry Bearak receives foreign reporting award for dispatches from Afghanistan before and after Sept 11 attacks; other winners noted (M)
Date: 20 February 2002
By Jim Rutenberg
Jim Rutenberg
Teya Ryan, who oversaw overhaul of CNN Headline News last summer, is named executive vice president and general manager of CNN domestic network, succeeding Sid Bedingfield, who is appointed executive editor of all CNN networks (M)
Date: 20 February 2002
By Seth Schiesel and Bill Carter
Seth Schiesel
Analysis of Federal appeals court ruling that government has to reconsider sharp limits on number of stations network can own and striking down regulation that had restricted cable operators from owning television stations; says rulings will probably prompt executives at companies including News Corp, Viacom and Walt Disney Co, which each own many television stations, to seriously consider expanding their empires by acquisition; holds major players in cable television market like AOL Time Warner and Cox Enterprises can now consider significantly expanding their relatively small broadcasting operations (M)
Date: 20 February 2002
By James Barron With Terry Pristin
James With
Latest episode in brouhaha between ABC's Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, who have history of outscooping each other, described; this time it is over actress Rosie O'Donnell's coming out as lesbian; photo; Wayne Barrett, author of Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani would cast Jon Voight in lead role in upcoming television movie based on his book if he had choice; Brian Stokes Mitchell sings at memorial service for John A Stevenson, publishing and direct mail executive (M)
Date: 20 February 2002
By Maureen Dowd
Maureen Dowd
Maureen Dowd Op-Ed column scores plans by Pentagon to establish Office of Strategic Influence that would control news about war against terrorism, sometimes by deliberately planting false information (M)
Date: 20 February 2002
By Donald G. McNeil Jr
Donald McNeil
Efforts by Swedish newspaper group, Metro International, to distribute free newspapers in France is met by violence from members of printing trades chapters of General Workers Confederation, union alliance allied with Communist Party; vendors have been assaulted, printing plants vandalized, trucks attacked and stacks of newspapers dumped into gutters; union officials want government to halt all distribution of free papers until it can study effects on economy (M)
Date: 20 February 2002
By Elizabeth Becker and James Dao
Elizabeth Becker
Pres Bush will transform administration's temporary wartime communication effort into permanent office of global diplomacy to spread positive image of US around world and combat anti-Americanism; White House will create office to carry out policy, under which public statements of State, Defense and other departments will be coordinated to ensure that foreign correspondents in Washington as well as foreign leaders and opinion-makers overseas understand Bush's policies (M)