Something is going on at the official government news agency in Bahrain. Normally it churns out dull and unilluminating reports about royal comings and goings, such as this one:

"His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa today received Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who conveyed greetings from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdulla bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

"HM the King and Prince Faisal discussed bilateral relations and means of boosting cooperation to achieve joint interests."

So it came as quite a surprise on Saturday when a very different kind of report appeared on the US-based PRNewswire, issued in the name of the Bahrain News Agency.

Written more in the style of a western newspaper, it concerns the recent by-elections in the kingdom and portrays Bahraini voters as heroically defying protesters in order to exercise their democratic rights. The protesters, meanwhile, are portrayed as menacing "roving gangs" who threatened voters and a TV journalist as well as injuring a number of police officers. 

The reality, of course, was a lot more complicated, as a report from the Financial Times shows.

But what are we to make of PRNewswire's version? The Enduring America blog suggests – perhaps correctly – that it was written for the Bahrain News Agency by Qorvis, the American public relations firm that recently signed a $40,000-a-month contract with the government to spruce up the kingdom's tarnished image.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 27 September 2011.