BLIGHTING THE JOURNALIST'S CRAFT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100200101-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 15, 2007
• Sequence Number: 101
• Publication Date: April 15, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/15: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100200101-0
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15 April 1980
Blighting the journalist's . craft:
Is the Central Intelligence Agency,,trying to slider ter if the government had a flat policy against ever i.
back into the reprehensible practice of using jour- employing any kind of journalist as an agent. .
nalists-as espionage agents? It appears so, based on And it isn't just impartiality that is involved. The
recent remarks by CL irector Stansfield Turner completeness of the news also suffers if potential
and President Carter.* - news sources in foreign. countries have to wonder.;
Both said the CIA reserved the right, in rare?in whether they are talking to independent reporters
stances, to use journalists as cover. for spying ac- or to undercover agents.
tivities abroad. The trouble is that the functioning _ For those reasons, the CIA should forswear all.1
.of journalists as undercover intelligence
and credibility of the media can be impaired if re- .: use'.
porters double as government agents, even in a wagents. And as Congress approaches the necessary)
task of `writin a charter-to govern the agency's
very limited number of cases.''' g g
You, as a newspaper'reader or television viewer, activities, the--ban. on such a role for-journalists.)'
have a. right to expect that news accounts from should be incorporated in unmistakable language.
abroad will be as informative, impartial and accu-_!f
rate as possible. But how can you really have such
confidence if you must wonder whether a given j
reporter is compromised by: entanglements with
the CIA?
Of course, in actual practice, conscientious- re-
porting and diligent editing may assure that the I
news stream isn't contaminated by CIA influence.I
Furthermore, the media have a responsibility toj
keep their reporters from having conflicts of inter:i
est. Yet some of the news-comes from foreign jour-
nalists and-freelancers--who are not in the direct
employ of the US media. So it would be much bet-
Approved For Release 2007/06/15: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100200101-0 ,