What Everyone Gets Wrong about the CIA’s “Operation Mockingbird”

What I learned when I 'did my own research'...

If your social media feeds are anything like mine, hardly a day goes by without mentions of the CIA's "Operation Mockingbird" and the "Mockingbird Media." These references tend to accompany condemnations of the mainstream press for pushing misleading narratives that distort the masses' perception of reality in favor of submission to ruling class agendas.

These “Mockingbird” references allude to the increasingly common knowledge that early in the CIA's history, the agency partnered with news outlets to influence public perception and opinion. These efforts have been documented for decades. Journalist Carl Bernstein detailed the program in 1977. In the same decade, the congressional Church Committee hearings explored the CIA’s use of journalists to serve their interests (with a focus on CIA intervention in Chile). Former New York Times journalist Tim Weiner also covered it in his (CIA-disapproved) book Legacy of Ashes.

As he wrote, the CIA’s first director, Allen Dulles, “kept in close touch with the men who ran The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the nation’s leading weekly magazines. He could pick up the phone and edit a breaking story, make sure an irritating foreign correspondent was yanked from the field, or hire the services of men such as Time’s Berlin bureau chief and Newsweek’s man in Tokyo. It was second nature for Dulles to plant stories in the press.”

The CIA leveraged news organizations and their editors and journalists to mold public opinion. This is basic information even for an entry-level "awake" person. There's just one snag: There is no evidence these efforts were ever called "Operation Mockingbird." I'll come back to why this seemingly minor detail matters, but for now, the details:

Operation What?

For years, I also referred to the CIA's media infiltration efforts as "Operation Mockingbird." When I was working for the Anti-Media, my now defunct and censored news outlet, I was writing an article that led me to look for the official “Mockingbird” files. Because the operation was so well known, I had never bothered to look for any relevant primary documents.

As many "awake" people tend to know, the CIA has published (or at least acknowledged) previously classified details about a wide range of detestable behavior. These include (but are not limited to) Operation Northwoods, where they entertained waging false flag attacks to pin on the Cuban government and justify US intervention there; MK-Ultra, where they drugged people with psychedelics in attempts to devise mind control tactics; Operation Ajax, where they worked with British intelligence to overthrow the elected leader of Iran to secure control over oil resources; and Operation PBSUCCESS, the CIA’s intervention in Guatemala on behalf of the United Fruit Company.

In looking for similar documents related to "Operation Mockingbird," I came up empty-handed. The only relevant documents I could find referred to "Project Mockingbird." This 1962 project entailed the CIA’s surveillance of journalists to find the sources of undesirable leaks.

None of the foundational reporting on “Operation Mockingbird” uses this name, either. Bernstein made no such reference, and it appears nowhere in published documents from the Church Committee (that I have been able to find). Of course, this doesn't mean it isn't true. Just because information isn't publicly available doesn't mean claims about it are necessarily false (for example, Bernstein references CIA documents on the matter that I’ve been unable to locate). However, the ongoing claims do lack verifying evidence. To be clear, I am not arguing the program never existed. It’s widely established that it did. However, the reporting and investigation that exposed it never used this term.

Digging deeper, I found a reference to "Operation Mockingbird" in a 1979 book by Deborah Davis exploring the life of Katharine Graham, who ran the Washington Post in the 1960s and 1970s. The book, Katharine the Great: Katharine Graham and the Washington Post, claims efforts like these were “said to have the code name Operation Mockingbird.” A 1991 version of the book contains slightly edited (and even more certain) language: “The program had the code name Operation Mockingbird.” Neither version includes citations that might illuminate where the author discovered this term, nor does she name a direct source.

“Do your own research”

When I shared what I'd found—that there wasn't actual evidence that the CIA’s media infiltration campaign was called “Operation Mockingbird”—I was met with reactivity and claims that I was “nitpicking” and "gaslighting" people. In reality, I've never denied that the CIA has exerted immense influence over the media. I reference these activities often, and I believe it's been one of the most harmful operations the agency has carried out.

It's safe to assume that the average person who decries CIA manipulations of the media has a healthy skepticism of established narratives. They likely consider themselves more informed than average "NPCs" or “sheeple” who consume corporate news without question. I rarely go a day on the internet without seeing a self-declared “awake” person calling themselves a "truth speaker," confident they have figured it all out.

I empathize with the tendency to apply less scrutiny to claims that confirm our biases (as noted, it took me years of knowing about the CIA’s insidious relationship with the corporate press to look for supporting documentation). But we can’t claim to be arbiters of truth and lament the brainwashing of our fellow humans if we, too, lack the discernment to determine what is true or false.

There is a special irony about people who condemn the “Mockingbird”-brainwashed masses for their susceptibility, ignorance, and lack of critical thinking abilities while failing to dig deeply enough to determine what is real about the program they decry. The popular refrain “do your own research” falls flat when those echoing it don’t bother to do it themselves (or at least do it thoroughly).

I think it’s worth acknowledging that it’s still possible the program really was called "Operation Mockingbird.” Those with even superficial knowledge of the CIA’s history might consider it conceivable that the agency has a secret scheme that involves withholding the real name of the operation for some nefarious reason. I believe this is possible, but I have no evidence to prove it.

As politics and society at large grow increasingly polarized, chaotic, and prone to brazen authoritarianism, battles of information—true or false—will rage even more intensely. It is imperative for people who see through establishment narratives and manipulations to apply the same standards they apply to those in power to their own perceptions. This is necessary to live in alignment with—and uphold—principles of truth and freedom, regardless of what we must question to do so.

In that spirit, if you have documents that do show the CIA’s media manipulations were, indeed, called “Operation Mockingbird,” I would love to see them and correct myself. Please share!

If you’re interested in this topic, in 2018, I gave a speech on the shortcomings of independent media and the importance of applying rigorous standards to everything if we want to pose legitimate and effective challenges to those in power.