Documents: Pentagon Embedded "Surrogates" at TV Networks

The Pentagon has released 8,000 pages on its secretive "military analyst" program, which successfully embedded at least 75 retired military officers - most of them with links to war contractors - at TV networks as "surrogates" for the Bush administration. The New York Times published this investigation of the controversial program, and John Stauber of PR Watch has also written about it here. He notes that the three major networks have yet to publish a single story reporting the snafu. The original DoD documents can be viewed here, although - ahem, surprise, surprise - they aren't posted in easily searchable format.

Journalists Attacked: Bush Admin's "War on Journalists"

Amy Goodman reports on the Bush administration's "war on journalists" here.

Books: How Media Span Iraq

Greg Mitchel, editor of Editor & Publisher, has just put out a collection of essays on how the media reported on Iraq: So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits - and the President - Failed on Iraq.

Spies: Intel Outsourcing Doubles, Bill Seeks to Rein in Controversial Powers

From today's Secrecy News, a bulletin of the Federation of American Scientists: "A bill introduced in the House of Representatives would require U.S. intelligence agencies to report to Congress on the total number and cost of contractors that they employ and to provide detailed information on the services that contractors perform. Some controversial intelligence contractor activities would be prohibited outright, including arrest, interrogation and detention... 'Contracting in the intelligence community has more than doubled in scope in the last decade, and it's clear that effective management and oversight is lacking,' said Rep. David Price (D-NC), who co-sponsored the new legislation (H.R. 5973) with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-CA)... Journalist Tim Shorrock writing in Salon and elsewhere has recently authored a book on intelligence contracting which describes as much about the sensitive subject as intrepid reporting can uncover." See "Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing" (Simon & Schuster).

Documents: U.S. Gov. Report Admits Ex-CIA Operatives Involved in Drugs, Arms and Terrorism

Bizarrely, none other than the U.S. National Parks Service has published a fascinating primer on the drug-dealing, arms-smuggling and terrorist activities of former CIA operatives in Miami, titled "Cold War in South Florida: Historic Resource Study." (Cryptome.org highlighted the 117-page study yesterday.) Some interesting passages: "In the 1970s and 1980s, some Miami Cuban exiles and their associates used their CIA training for a variety of illegal activities not related to ridding Cuba of Castro. Some became arms dealers while others smuggled drugs into the U.S. Former exile CIA operatives participated in the cocaine trade and related illegal activities.

"Two authors claim that 'The rotten core of the big Miami narcotics apple—marijuana and high- grade cocaine smuggled by plane and boat from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru—utilizes the routes, contacts, and techniques for transporting Caribbean contraband that were developed by the CIA during the secret war.' Some former exile CIA operatives became mercenaries, professional hit men, and money launderers. Some participated in terrorist activities including the car- bombing of foreign government officials in Washington, D.C., the bombing of Cuban government facilities in foreign countries, and the bombing of a Cuban passenger aircraft...

"Besides pumping money into the local economy, the CIA operations provided a sort of temporary jobs program for many Cuban exiles. Working for the agency let a large number of exiles get on their feet and establish an economic toehold in the region. Without the CIA sponsorship of so many exile groups, many of the immigrants would have had no means of support. 'The main accomplishment of the agency’s massive intervention in Miami was to support a substantial number of middle class Cubans at a reasonable standard of living, allowing them time to monitor opportunities offered by the local economy and to find a suitable business niche.' Many exiles, supported upon arrival by the CIA’s 'jobs program,' went on to found their own businesses and helped the region become a major center for Latin American business, banking, and international trade."

And from the paper's introduction: "U.S. motivations for waging the Cold War were multifaceted and cannot be solely explained as a purely altruistic desire to save the 'free' world. Such rhetoric is challenged by the reality of the methods used to wage the Cold War. Some of these methods and their effects compromised the ideals and principles of the United States and undermined the oft-stated U.S. goals of supporting freedom and democracy. U.S. Cold War ideological assumptions often resulted in questionable policies and ambiguous outcomes while U.S. policies impacted the nation’s politics, society, culture, environment, and demographics in ways that are only now beginning to be examined by historians."

In the Law: Bill Sought to Protect Confidential Sources

Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
But a federal shield law -- like those already on the books in most states -- would reinforce the need for investigative journalism in a democratic society ...
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Press Freedom: "Investigative Journalism is Dead in Nigeria"

Daily Sun - Apapa,Lagos,Nigeria
In a recent interview, the veteran journalist lamented that investigative journalism has died in Nigeria. In his words, professionalism has been tossed to ...
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The Biz: Conference On the "Crisis in News" With Focus on Investigative Journalism

This event was a part of a conference titled The Crisis in News: Is There a Future for Investigative Journalism? sponsored by the Investigative Reporting Program, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California Berkeley. ...
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The Biz: Fund Shortage Puts Projects on Hold

Two Investigative Projects on Hold
Consortium News - USA
We also understand why it sounds odd to many Americans when we ask them to support investigative journalism. Traditionally, that’s been the role of big ...
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Journalists Attacked: Veronica Guerin Murder Questions Revived

Is this man Veronica Guerin's killer?
BBC News - UK
But did Patrick "Dutchy" Holland murder Irish investigative journalist Veronica Guerin? Veronica Guerin was a heroine to many people in her native country ...
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Tools: Investigative Journo Training from Don Ray

Two new training modules
Media Helping Media - London,England,UK
Investigative journalist and journalism trainer/consultant, Don Ray, has contributed two more training modules to the Media Helping Media tool kit. ...
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Awards: Mexican Journo Recognized for Cancun Exposés

Voice of the abused
Independent Online - Cape Town,South Africa
On that occasion, the freelance investigative journalist said the recognition of her work validated "what we are doing for trafficking victims; ...
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