The Jeremiad Over Journalism

4.1.4 The Central Intelligence Agency
While USIE‘s activities relied primarily on ―white‖ propaganda, where the receivers could see the
origin of the message being conveyed, the Central Intelligence Agency, which operated around the
globe, specialized in ―black‖ propaganda, or ―unattributed‖ information. Black propaganda included
among other things planting ―bogus news stories,‖ as well as paying off journalists to work for the
agency. While there are examples of the CIA being active in Denmark, at least up until the 1970‘s it
is still difficult to gauge the extent that Danish news organizations were influenced or even
infiltrated.
Nevertheless, according to former CIA officials quoted based on investigative reporting in The New
York Times the agency had ―assets‖ all across the world ―throughout the 1950‘s and 1960‘s, when
the agency‘s propaganda network was at peak strength.‖ During these years an estimated 800
―propaganda assets,‖ 364 consisting of mostly foreign journalists were used by the CIA.
―We 'had' at least one newspaper in every foreign capital at any given time, one C.I.A. man
said, and those that the agency did not own outright or subsidize heavily it infiltrated with
paid agents or staff officers who could have stories printed that were useful to the agency and
not print those it found detrimental." 365
According to The New York Times investigation, Danish newsrooms were not free of American
influence either, as the CIA, ―reportedly had agents within a number of foreign news services,
including LATIN, a Latin American agency operated by the British news agency Reuters, and the
Ritzhaus [sic] organization in Scandinavia." 366
Ritzaus Bureau has since the 19 th century played a central part in the Danish news environment by
delivering news agency stories to subscribing Danish newspapers and if it was in fact infiltrated by
CIA or USIE operatives, which Villaume considers likely, then this circumstance obviously
364 Crewdson and Treaster, "The CIA's 3-Decade Effort to Mold the World's Views." Page 1 and 12.
365 ———, "Worldwide Propaganda Network Built by the C.I.A.." Page 12.
366 Ibid. Page 37.
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