Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Listen and read as much as you want
  • Over 400 000+ titles
  • Bestsellers in 10+ Indian languages
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Subscribe now
Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Operation Mockingbird: The Controversial History of the CIA’s Efforts to Manipulate American Media Outlets

1 Ratings

1

Duration
1H 51min
Language
English
Format
Category

History

Freedom of the press isn’t just a fundamental right in America but a key part of the democratic process. When the United States secured its independence against Britain in the War of Independence in 1783, there was no certainty about what the new country would look like in terms of national governance. In 1787, delegates from the various states convened in Philadelphia to draft a constitution that would define this.

Freedom of the press became one of the core principles of democracy in the United States. People could only place their votes in an informed way if the press was free to provide information about politicians and their actions. Politicians must also know that their actions were accountable through a press that informed voters honestly and accurately.

Up to the 1960s, most Americans were confident they had access to a truly free press, but then series of revelations emerged that suggested the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been subverting journalists in the US and elsewhere through the use of bribery, blackmail, and covert operations. By the late 1970s, this alleged CIA plan had a name: Operation Mockingbird.

Many people were understandably horrified at the notion that the federal government had attempted to operate counter to the First Amendment through one of its intelligence agencies, and Operation Mockingbird was widely discussed. These debates continue to the present day, including whether there actually was a covert CIA operation named Mockingbird, whether the operation truly sought to subvert the press in the US and elsewhere, and whether the operation really ended by 1976, as the CIA claimed. As such, nearly 50 years later, Operation Mockingbird remains a controversial topic.

© 2024 Charles River Editors (Audiobook): 9798868767609

Release date

Audiobook: 25 January 2024

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. The CIA as Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World Douglas Valentine
  2. Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies Gordon Corera
  3. Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East Michael B. Oren
  4. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty Patrick Radden Keefe
  5. The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder Sean McFate
  6. Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland Patrick Radden Keefe
  7. Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia Paul L. Williams
  8. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany William L. Shirer
  9. The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War—A Tragedy in Three Acts: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War - A Tragedy in Three Acts Scott Anderson
  10. America’s Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle between America and its Enemies George Friedman
  11. Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich Robert Gerwarth
  12. The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man John Perkins
  13. The Soviet Union during the Brezhnev Era: The History of the USSR Under Leonid Brezhnev Charles River Editors
  14. The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers Richard Aldrich
  15. The Shadow War: Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America Jim Sciutto
  16. The Vory: Russia's Super Mafia Mark Galeotti
  17. The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story Serhii Plokhy
  18. Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Daniel Gordis
  19. Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency James Bamford
  20. In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies Howard Blum
  21. Dead Doubles: The Extraordinary Worldwide Hunt for One of the Cold War's Most Notorious Spy Rings: The Extraordinary Worldwide Hunt for One of the Cold War’s Most Notorious Spy Rings Trevor Barnes
  22. Kissinger: A Biography Walter Isaacson
  23. The Afghan Wars: History in an Hour Rupert Colley
  24. Hoover’s FBI: The Inside Story by Hoover’s Trusted Lieutenant Cartha ”Deke” DeLoach
  25. Trust: the dazzling twisty story of power, greed and love that begins in 1920s New York Hernan Diaz
  26. Creating the KGB and CIA: The Establishment of the World’s Most Famous Intelligence Agencies Charles River Editors
  27. The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir John Bolton
  28. GCHQ: Centenary Edition Richard Aldrich
  29. Cold Warriors: Writers Who Waged the Literary Cold War Duncan White
  30. The Cold War's Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peace Paul Thomas Chamberlin
  31. Stalin: History in an Hour Rupert Colley
  32. A History of the World Andrew Marr
  33. Gray Work: Confessions of an American Paramilitary Spy Jamie Smith
  34. I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Michelle McNamara
  35. A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership James Comey
  36. The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander Pete Blaber
  37. Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories and the Hunt for Putin’s Agents Gordon Corera
  38. The Last Days of Stalin Joshua Rubenstein
  39. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer Martin J. Sherwin
  40. Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975 Max Hastings
  41. JFK: History in an Hour Sinead Fitzgibbon
  42. George Washington: History in an Hour David B. McCoy
  43. Otto Skorzeny: The Devil's Disciple: The Devil’s Disciple Stuart Smith
  44. Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-45 Max Hastings