Newsweek Discovers Agents Pose as Media, Ignores US History
Newsweek breathlessly reports on 'How Chinese Agents Posed as American Media,' stirring fears of foreign influence campaigns. This expose conveniently sidesteps decades of documented US government operations precisely designed to do the same. Operation Mockingbird, for instance, saw the CIA recruit journalists and media outlets to disseminate propaganda (sources: Carl Bernstein, 'The CIA and the
Media,' Rolling Stone, 1977). More recently, the State Department established the 'Global Engagement Center' to 'counter foreign propaganda,' a euphemism (critics might suggest) for its own media influence efforts. One might wonder if the concern for media integrity extends to the substantial financial influence wielded by groups like AIPAC on American politicians and, by extension, the media
narratives they promote. For example, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), ranking member on the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, received $74,800 from pro-Israel groups in 2022 (OpenSecrets.org), consistently advocating for increased military aid to Israel. Is the concern solely about media 'posing' when the actual content is shaped by well-funded, domestic lobbying efforts? Or is it only
'posing' when the agents aren't American?