Operation Mockingbird Never Ended — The CIA's Media Control Program Just Got a Rebrand
I want you to read one sentence. Just one. Then I want you to tell me this is normal. "The CIA maintained a network of at least 50 American journalists who carried out assignments for the Agency while simultaneously reporting for major U.S. news organizations, including the New York Times, CBS, and Time magazine." That's not a conspiracy theory. That's a direct quote from the Church Committee hearings of 1975. Senate report 94-755, Volume 1, page 191. United States Government Printing Office, April 26, 1976. The program was called Operation Mockingbird. And if you think it ended in the 1970s, I have a bridge in Langley to sell you. How Mockingbird Actually Worked Let me be specific, because specifics matter and vague accusations don't. The program began in 1948, possibly as early as 1947, under the direction of Frank Wisner, head of the CIA's Office of Policy Coordination. Wisner called his media network "Wisner's Wurlitzer" — a r...