Ever wondered when your watching the news why some news gets on and other news doesn’t?
As we all know what happens in Paris Hilton’s backyard is of a greater geopolitical importance than an informed public!
For the most part it’s due to the continual erosion of the so called Fourth Estate i.e. “THE PRESS“, another part of it is that editors decide what goes in and what doesn’t. Also partly that the news has become infotainment as opposed to anything really news worthy. “Wait a minute,” you might say, “what was that bit about editors deciding what gets in?” Well that my friends is where Operation Mockingbird comes in!
OP MOCKINGBIRD: when we put it like this it does look kinda sinister and that is how is shows up in reports Congressional and otherwise. And yup it is frickin sinister. So what is it? Maybe you’ve heard a conspiracy nut or kook (like EvS, lol) go on about it……
Long story short– The CIA hatched a plan called Operation Mockingbird that would involve a relationship between the agency and news media editors and reporters across the United States (and later globally). The idea would be to manipulate or censor news in order to further the goals of the CIA. In return these shills would be given “scoops” ie planned leaks that also fit in with CIA goals which in turn would make these editors and reporters look better. Sometimes it was financial incentives. Also CIA agents would sometimes be given press credentials as cover.
In doing research on Mockingbird I could find no end date for this operation. Why is that? Well kids because it’s still ongoing. Alot of people have this fantasy idea that since the Church Committee hearings back in the 1970’s that the CIA all of a sudden went, “Oh yeah shit..ok you caught us, we’ll be good now…” fucking wake up folks most of these operations are ongoing and have no end date. Mockingbird being one of them. (full report from gov site here).
Washington Post , Time and all of the big publications have not escaped the taint of Op Mockingbird.
George H. W. Bush, who was at the time the Director of the CIA (this was Feb of 1976)”Effective immediately, the CIA will not enter into any paid or contract relationship with any full-time or part-time news correspondent accredited by any U.S. news service, newspaper, periodical, radio or television network or station.” However, he added that the CIA would continue to “welcome” the voluntary, unpaid cooperation of journalists.
Yeah you read that right. Unpaid at least unpaid from the view point of the payroll department and with a 201 file, but what about the slush fund?
“You could get a journalist cheaper than a good call girl, for a couple hundred dollars a month.” – CIA operative discussing with Philip Graham, editor Washington Post, on the availability and prices of journalists willing to peddle CIA propaganda and cover stories.
Well some food for thought there next time someone finds it newsworthy that some barely coherent child with twits for parents ( aka honey boo boo) is doing something or other, or what is actually happening to our media!