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Operation Mockingbird (1950s–1970s)

The CIA didn't just spy on journalists — it put them on the payroll.

Operation Mockingbird was a CIA programme that recruited American journalists and media organisations to spread propaganda both at home and abroad. We're not talking about occasional leaks or friendly tips. This was systematic: reporters, editors, and entire outlets were funded, directed, or influenced by the agency. Some knowingly cooperated. Others had no idea their editors were passing along CIA-approved storylines.

The programme came to light during the Church Committee hearings in 1975, when Congress finally investigated the intelligence community's domestic activities. The findings were stunning. The CIA had relationships with major newspapers, wire services, and broadcasting networks. Journalists doubled as intelligence assets. Foreign media outlets were created from scratch as fronts.

The uncomfortable part isn't that it happened decades ago. It's the question it leaves behind: how would you know if something similar were happening now? The infrastructure for shaping public narratives through trusted media voices was built, tested, and proven effective. The Church Committee exposed it, but exposure doesn't mean elimination. It means the next version would just be harder to spot.

When you read news, you're trusting that the person writing it serves you, not someone else. Mockingbird proved that trust can be quietly purchased.

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