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Comment by O__________O | Hacker News Reader

Super common for CIA to do PR campaigns, including content for kids. They also actively work with main stream media, including the movie industry, to shape the way they’re presented to the public.

Here’s link to first episode, which is just an interview with current director; didn’t hear anything of interest:

- https://open.spotify.com/episode/6A68ekTmSZY43VE5PwB5OH

One of oddest things I ever heard was a former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence say that CIA’s primary source at one point for daily briefings was the New York Times; if true, pretty telling in my opinion, given the substantial difference in budgets, methods, sources, etc, the two organizations have.

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> One of oddest things I ever heard was a former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence say that CIA’s primary source at one point for daily briefings was the New York Times

Damn, and i thought only RedHat rpms had circullar dependencies. /s

Sorry, couldn't resist.

That's extremely baffling to me. Considering the CIA is usually depicted extremely negatively in American movies.

Not just the CIA — Secret Service, FBI, DoD, DHS, etc — all work with mainstream media; same is true for any large domestic media company in any country working with local governments, including: China, Russia, etc.

___

Source:

How the Central Intelligence Agency works with Hollywood

- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/016344370910272...

- https://www.google.com/search?q=cia.gov+office+movie+industr...

I think they’re negative only depending on your personal politics. They’re never depicted as incompetent, technologically challenged, or overly beaurocratic.

I don't think so. You are right that they aren't depicted as incompetent, technologically challenged, or overly bureaucratic. But they are also depicted as terrorists sponsoring, war mongering, torturous murderers that show little regard for life. I would say those are widely accepted as bad traits and not just my personal politics.

I wish those were table stakes for the entire electorate. But sadly I think they’re considered partisan issues.

That can't be right. I mean maybe, if they are going to shit, like didn't they leak all their Iranian and Chinese sources meaning they disappeared? The old-time folks using One-Time-Pads, I only remember that but come on it's American, Cowboy Cryptography, and it's the best bar none, only strong cryptography. Well there were other technologies that were really much older, just classics, and those sticking to them and suggesting they continue to be used were labeled "troglodytes" and basically called paranoid. Dude if I were a spy and my handler used the word paranoid pejoratively, flip right then and there. Instantly. Not even ask "do you mean that pejoratively?" That's a giveaway, she'll know you'll flip. The usage will be distinct and if it's unclear it's pejorative. This isn't binary search. That means this guy ifs sucking up to movies of Hollywood actors who are not the real deal like Audie Murphie who made autobiographical movies, and especially special effects visualizations, and a romantic interpretation of the job that doesn't really respect the integrity of the Iranian or Chinese traitor. I do not meant pejoratively, it's not always pejorative, for instance a hero means traitor to traitors, traitors call me traitor all the time, double negative, and by all means he is wrongly trusted by his country, which generally gave him privileges and access because it thought the beneficiary would not betray them, in place of a more loyal nationalist who gets shafted for that traitor's benefit. Maybe in a country of 10 people this isn't so, guess it only applies to continents north of the Antarctic Circle. But whatever, that traitor is in principle preferring American values. And of course payouts, in the Cold War some say spies never made any money, yeah spies on America that's all it mentions, CIA paid great then, for instance the Eastern Germany spymaster got a $8-million-dollar offer plus a house in California (meaning also protection from retal in California) that's like half of what the Communist spies made in total. One guy.

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