Document Surfaces Showing CIA’s Plans To Infiltrate Academia & Change University/College Curriculums

As Emma Best from Muckrock reports, recently Tweeted by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, memos from the CIA Inspector General’s (IG) office reveal the agencies perspective on the press and how to handle them. It’s from 1984, approximately three decades prior to when the Agency declared Wikileaks a hostile non-state intelligence service. It shows how the CIA viewed the media the same way.

Are organizations like Wikileaks really a threat to National Security? Or are they simply a threat to a small group of powerful people who make millions, billions, or even trillions of dollars via government secrecy? Are they a threat to the global national security agenda that is taking place, disguised under the guise of globalisation? Was president Vladimir Putin right when he said “imaginary” and “mythical” threats are being used to impose the Deep State’s way on the entire world? Perhaps truth and transparency are a threat yes, but not to national security. If we continue to ignore these questions, the national security state will continue to be heightened, one in which our rights are constantly violated, with our right to privacy being one of many great examples.

Several weeks prior, CIA Director Casey had asked the IG to weigh in on officer Eloise Page’s paper on unauthorized disclosure. The IG passed the task onto someone on his staff, who produced a four page SECRET memo for IG James Taylor, who passed it on to Director Casey. The IG specifically endorsed the proposal for a program where the Agency would intervene with journalism schools.

See for yourself:

You can view the full document here.

In the document, the press are also viewed as “principal villains:”

“To the Inspector General’s office, the reason that the press were the “principal villains” was simple: “absolute power corrupts absolutely” and “the power of the media to publish in this country is nearly absolute.” As a result of the media’s “absolute power,’ argued the Agency that had been involved in mind control attempts, illegal surveillance, tampering in foreign elections and dozens of assassinations, assassination attempts and coups, they had been corrupted absolutely. The member of the IG’s staff then suggested that they compare the media to the “opposition,” a reference to hostile intelligence services. This could be backed up by citing “precise parallels in methods and results, if not in motivations, between the media’s attempts to penetrate us and the opposition’s attempts to do the same.” – Emma Best

The document then goes on to list some proposed “do’s and don’ts,” as well as expresses the belief that “a sanitized list of foolish media disclosures that have cost the country or individuals substantially.” But again, as discussed above, have they really cost the citizenry, or have they simply cost some powerful interests?

The document also urges the Director to “remember” that “the organization has official contacts with influential people outside the Community – people in leadership posts in this society; academia and the media concluded; and remember that we undoubtedly have in the organization many who know such people unofficially and who could help provide access if needed.”

Quite revealing isn’t it?

Another document, relating to the same one discussed above shows an initiative to “call in media leaders,” whatever that means, and a system for screen disclosures by the media, and also mentions “centralized control of all press contacts,” as well as “control of press access.”

It’s quite ironic that this document is from 1984. George Orwell’s 1984, a classic book depicting a populace ruled by a political regime that persecutes individualism and independent critical thinking as “thoughtcrimes” that must be enforced by the “thought police” was also released that year. This party seeks power above all, and, through the propagandist Ministry of Truth, presents the people with their version of truth. Sound familiar? This is basically one of many tools used by the Deep State today. Sometimes, it seems that our thoughts, feelings and emotions are given to us, and we are so occupied with our lives that when certain individuals of groups become concerned with what is happening in the world, they come across enormous amounts of secrecy.

How many pages of documents does the US government classify every year? Some historians peg it at half a billion pages per year. For any journalist or researcher interested in the history of the country, how are they expected to really know anything when so much of it remains hidden from public view?

American Author, and former State Department employee once said, “no matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine.” (Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower)

It’s unfortunate that the CIA’s control over media and academia is used today not for defense and freedom, but to deceive and push forth agendas in that which the public is completely unaware of. A great quote from Mark Twain comes to mind here:

“The statesman will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them: and thus he will by and by convince himself the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

– Mark Twain (source)

After 1984, The CIA’s Relationship With Media & Academia

It’s interesting to glance at the information/documents above, and then look at another from 1991.

A declassified document from the CIA archives in the form of a letter from a CIA task force addressed to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency details the close relationship that exists between the CIA and mainstream media and academia.

The document states that the CIA task force “now has relationships with reporters from every major wire service, newspaper, news weekly, and television network in the nation,” and that “this has helped us turn some ‘intelligence failure’ stories into ‘intelligence success stories,’ and has contributed to the accuracy of countless others.” Furthermore, it explains how the agency has “persuaded reporters to postpone, change, hold, or even scrap stories that could have adversely affected national security interests or jeopardized sources and methods.”

The document not only outlines the CIA’s role in media, but also the entire entertainment industry in general, lending further weight to revelations offered by celebrities like Jim Carrey. He appeared as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live, saying that, “For years now, talk show hosts, people on television, people in sitcoms have been hired by the government to throw you off the tracks, to distract you, to make you laugh and stuff like that, make you happy and docile so you don’t know what’s really going on.” Perhaps he wasn’t joking?

After all, it’s no secret that the agency maintains a close relationship with the entertainment industry.

Perception control? Movies used as propaganda? Something to think about.

It’s good to see an effort from those within mainstream media create awareness about this as well.

Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, a prominent German journalist and editor for more than two decades, is one example. He blew the whistle on public television, stating that he was forced to publish the works of intelligence agencies under his own name and that noncompliance with these orders would result in him losing his job. (source)

Sharyl Attkisson and Amber Lyon, both well-known mainstream media reporters and journalists, have also exposed funded movements by political, corporate, and other special interests, and have revealed that they are routinely paid by the US government as well as foreign governments to selectively report and distort information on certain events. (source)(source)

Let’s not forget about Operation Mockingbird, a CIA-based initiative to control mainstream media.

James F. Tracy is a PhD from the University of Iowa. A former professor of communications at Boca Raton, Florida Atlantic University, he is also one of many who reports on this type of thing. He emphasizes:

“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.”

He published a great article going into more detail about the close relationship between the agency and the media:

50 Facts the World Should Know About The CIA’s Relationship With The Media

About The Author

Arjun Walia

I joined the CE team in 2010 shortly after finishing university and have been grateful for the fact that I have been able to do this ever since :) There are many things happening on the planet that don’t resonate with me, and I wanted to do what I could to play a role in creating change. It’s been great making changes in my own life and creating awareness and I look forward to more projects that move beyond awareness and into action and implementation. So stay tuned :) [email protected]
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