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Octafish

(55,745 posts)
24. The CIA and the Media: 50 Facts the World Needs to Know
Mon Aug 31, 2015, 07:17 PM
Aug 2015

By Prof. James F. Tracy
Global Research, August 28, 2015

Since the end of World War Two the Central Intelligence Agency has been a major force in US and foreign news media, exerting considerable influence over what the public sees, hears and reads on a regular basis. CIA publicists and journalists alike will assert they have few, if any, relationships, yet the seldom acknowledged history of their intimate collaboration indicates a far different story–indeed, one that media historians are reluctant to examine.

Kennedy_CIAWhen seriously practiced, the journalistic profession involves gathering information concerning individuals, locales, events, and issues. In theory such information informs people about their world, thereby strengthening “democracy.” This is exactly the reason why news organizations and individual journalists are tapped as assets by intelligence agencies and, as the experiences of German journalist Udo Ulfkotte (entry 47 below) suggest, this practice is at least as widespread today as it was at the height of the Cold War.

Consider the coverups of election fraud in 2000 and 2004, the events of September 11, 2001, the invasions Afghanistan and Iraq, the destabilization of Syria, and the creation of “ISIS.” These are among the most significant events in recent world history, and yet they are also those much of the American public is wholly ignorant of. In an era where information and communication technologies are ubiquitous, prompting many to harbor the illusion of being well-informed, one must ask why this condition persists.

Further, why do prominent US journalists routinely fail to question other deep events that shape America’s tragic history over the past half century, such as the political assassinations of the 1960s, or the central role played by the CIA major role in international drug trafficking?

Popular and academic commentators have suggested various reasons for the almost universal failure of mainstream journalism in these areas, including newsroom sociology, advertising pressure, monopoly ownership, news organizations’ heavy reliance on “official” sources, and journalists’ simple quest for career advancement. There is also, no doubt, the influence of professional public relations maneuvers. Yet such a broad conspiracy of silence suggests another province of deception examined far too infrequently—specifically the CIA and similar intelligence agencies’ continued involvement in the news media to mold thought and opinion in ways scarcely imagined by the lay public.

The following historical and contemporary facts–by no means exhaustive–provides a glimpse of how the power such entities possess to influence if not determine popular memory and what respectable institutions deem to be the historical record.

CONTINUED...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-cia-and-the-media-50-facts-the-world-needs-to-know/5471956

Thank you for the kind words, Judi Lynn! Your friendship means the world to me.

PS: This weekend I had occasion to meet a group of outstanding young people entering a program at a Michigan university. Looking at a world map I noted the Pacific Ocean and asked one pre-med student what he thought of the Fukushima disaster. He had never heard of it -- and this kid is one of the top high school graduates in all of Michigan. I told him how three reactors were still in meltdown, out of control and dumping radiation into the Pacific, some of which had been measured around the world. He reiterated having heard nothing about it. That also is why DU matters so damn much.

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Perhaps that article also points to why some so strongly de-emphasize the "U" in "DU" as well.... villager Aug 2015 #1
Christopher Pyle sheds light on the rationale... Octafish Aug 2015 #4
K&R 2naSalit Aug 2015 #2
A History of Threat Escalation: Remembering Team B Octafish Aug 2015 #5
No Problem... 2naSalit Aug 2015 #12
The backstory to Team B and the pro-space movement LongTomH Aug 2015 #13
k and r bbgrunt Aug 2015 #3
Journalism and the CIA: The Mighty Wurlitzer Octafish Aug 2015 #6
Secret Government ''Managing'' the News is NOT Ancient History. Octafish Aug 2015 #7
News from the intersection of secret spying powers and privatized profits... Octafish Aug 2015 #8
With much agreement right here on DU....amazing! haikugal Sep 2015 #31
It's beyond a Wurlitzer-it's a heavenly choir thanks to NASA (Dulles's PAPERCLIP pals) et.al. K&R bobthedrummer Aug 2015 #9
''Target Audience'' Octafish Aug 2015 #15
k and r nashville_brook Aug 2015 #10
J Edgar Hoover with Supercomputers Octafish Aug 2015 #17
Kickety rec. hifiguy Aug 2015 #11
I'm pretty sure you mean this thread, for those who may have somehow missed it Electric Monk Aug 2015 #14
Thanks! haikugal Sep 2015 #33
Recommended. H2O Man Aug 2015 #16
Best way to predict the future is to make it happen. Octafish Aug 2015 #21
Lisa Pease: OPC “became the fastest-growing unit within the nascent CIA,” MinM Aug 2015 #18
I have the honor of meeting Lisa Pease. Octafish Aug 2015 #22
Real History Blog MinM Sep 2015 #39
Ms. Pease wrote about CIA and Otis Pike Octafish Sep 2015 #40
Thank you for this thread. I didn't see it until a moment ago. Judi Lynn Aug 2015 #19
The CIA and the Media: 50 Facts the World Needs to Know Octafish Aug 2015 #24
Kick and an invitation to join in on a discussion of "information operations" aka Psy-Ops for those bobthedrummer Aug 2015 #20
Michael Hastings made somebody very nervous. Octafish Sep 2015 #25
HUGE K&R CrawlingChaos Aug 2015 #23
It used to be against the law, directing propaganda against the American people. Octafish Sep 2015 #26
the crux of the biscuit reddread Sep 2015 #27
Freedom is for those who can afford it. Poor kids rot unknown in jail for five years and die... Octafish Sep 2015 #29
Having lived through that propaganda age I was very jwirr Sep 2015 #28
Wall Street would profit immensely from the Cold War, hence ''Team B.'' Octafish Sep 2015 #36
It used to be conservatives who distrust government jwirr Sep 2015 #38
Wait; is that, could that possibly be, and involving all sorts of people, a.....govt CONSPIRACY?? WinkyDink Sep 2015 #30
Journalism and the CIA: The Mighty Wurlitzer Octafish Sep 2015 #35
Prof. Christopher Simpson has published the best work on the subject of CIA propaganda, IMHO. leveymg Sep 2015 #32
Excellent o.p. and sub-posts. Thanks, Octa. nt. Mc Mike Sep 2015 #34
News from the intersection of secret spying powers and privatized profits... Octafish Sep 2015 #41
k & r & thanks! n/t wildbilln864 Sep 2015 #37
There was no justification to lock the other recent Octafish CIA thread. PufPuf23 Sep 2015 #42
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