
Updated: August 2023
Published: June 2016
High-quality documentaries and investigations on CIA media influence.
Introduction: John Stockwell on CIA media manipulation
CIA whistleblower John Stockwell on CIA media manipulation (3 min., source: 1983 interview)
Documentaries
- The CIA and Fake News (Channel 4, 12 min., 1985)
- Operation Gladio (BBC Timewatch, 150 min., 1992)
- The Inslaw Affair (Current Affairs, 20 min., 1993; more)
- Hidden Hands: Art and the CIA (Channel 4, 60 min., 1995)
- CIA Whistleblowers Speak Out (Otis Group, 45 min., 1998)
- Secrets of the CIA (Sky One Channel, 90 minutes, 2006)
- The War on Democracy (John Pilger, 90 minutes, 2007)
- The CIA as Organized Crime (Doug Valentine, 120 min., 2017)
- The CIA and the News Media (Corbett Report, 40 min., 2022)
- In The Pay of the CIA (CBS Special Report, 60 min., 1967)
- Tales of the American Empire (YouTube channel, since 2017)
Articles I (Basics)
- The CIA and the Media (Carl Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 1977)
- Worldwide Propaganda Network Built by the CIA (NYT, 1977)
- Modern Art Was CIA ‘Weapon’ (Independent, 1995)
- Social Media Is a Tool of the CIA (CBS News, 2011)
- The Victory of ‘Perception Management’ (CN, 2014)
- The CIA and the Media: 50 Facts (Tracy, 2015)
- The CIA and Hollywood (Atlantic, 2016)
- CIA Operation CHAOS (Grunge, 2020)
Articles II (Specifics)
- CNN and Psyops (Counterpunch, 2000; more)
- The CIA’s Mop-Up Man (The Intercept, 2014)
- How the CIA made Google (Insurge, 2015; more)
- Pierre Omidyar and the CIA (Grayzone, 2019)
- The Editor-in-Chief and the CIA (SPR, 2019)
- CNN’s Anderson Cooper and the CIA (GZ, 2020)
- The CIA and ‘Progressive’ Media (Defender, 2021)
- Tucker Carlson: A Company Man? (SPR, 2023; video)
- The CIA and Facebook (Mint Press News, 2022)
Articles III (More)
- CIA – Core of the Cancer (David Conde, CAM, 1970/2023)
- How the CIA Manufactures History (Victor Marchetti, 1989)
- The CIA and International Banking: BCCI (Newsweek, 1991)
- How NSA access was built into Windows (Heise, 1999)
- CIA and Encryption: The Crypto AG Scandal (WP, 2020)
- The National Endowment for Democracy (SPR, 2019)
- Wikipedia: A Propaganda Operation? (SPR, 2020)
- A History of CIA Drug Trafficking (ISGP, 2020)
- Was Theranos a CIA front? (Allen, 2021)
- Barack Obama and the CIA (CAM, 2021)
- Bill Clinton and the CIA (CAM, 2022)
Books
- Inside the Company: CIA Diary (Philip Agee, 1975; interview)
- Who Paid the Piper? The Cultural Cold War (Frances Saunders, 2000)
- The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America (Hugh Wilford, 2008)
- The CIA as Organized Crime (Douglas Valentine, Clarity Press, 2016)
- Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet (Y. Levine, 2018)
- Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions since WW II (W. Blum, 2022)
Quotes
- “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.” CIA Director William Casey, in a meeting with US President Ronald Reagan in February 1981. Quoted by Barbara Honegger, who was present at the meeting. Casey estimated that over 80% of intelligence was based on open public sources like newspapers and magazines; thus, disinforming the Soviets required disinforming the American public. (Source)
- “The CIA is not now nor has it ever been a central intelligence agency. It is the covert action arm of the President’s foreign policy advisers. () Disinformation is a large part of its covert action responsibility, and the American people are the primary target audience of its lies.” Former CIA case officer and whistleblower Ralph McGehee in his 1983 book Deadly Deceits. (Source)
In the Pay of the CIA

German Resources
Dokumentationen
- Die Akte BND (Zweiteilige 3Sat-Doku, 2019, 90 Minuten)
- Deckname Gladio: Geheime NATO-Truppen (ZDF, 2015, 45 Min.)
- Gladio – Geheimarmeen in Europa (Arte-Doku, 2010, 90 Min.)
- V-Mann-Land – Spitzel im Staatsauftrag (ARD, 2015, 45 Min.)
- Land unter Kontrolle (3Sat/Foschepoth, 2014, 45 Min.)
- Operation Wunderland (WDR-Doku, 2008, 120 Minuten)
- Künstler im Netz der CIA (ARTE-Doku, 2006, 50 Minuten)
- Germany – Made in USA (Phoenix-Doku, 2003, 45 Minuten)
- Schachmatt – Strategie einer Revolution (ARTE, 2003, 60 Min.)
- Die Zerstörung der RAF-Legende (ARD-Brennpunkt, 1992, 45 Min.)
TV-Beiträge
- Transatlantische Medien-Netzwerke (ZDF/Anstalt, 2014, 5 Min.)
- Der BND und der Irak-Krieg (ARD-Beitrag, 2010, 30 Minuten)
- Terror in Deutschland: Die Sauerland-Zelle (ARD, 2008, 10 Min.)
- Berlin La Belle Disco-Anschlag: CIA und Mossad (ZDF, 1998, 15 Min.)
- False Flags: Das Celler Loch war kein Einzelfall (NDR, 1986, 10 Min.)
Vorträge und Interviews
- Der Duale Staat (Dirk Pohlmann, 2018, 120 Minuten)
- Im Spinnennetz der Geheimdienste (Westend, 2017, 30 Min.)
- Buback-Mord: Eine Geheimdienst-Operation? (KenFM, 2017, 120 min.)
- Phantom-Terrorismus (Gerhard Wisnewski, 2015, 100 Min.)
- Gekaufte Journalisten (Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, 2015, 90 Minuten)
- Verdeckte Operationen (Dr. Andreas von Bülow, 2013, 60 Min.)
- Skandale des deutschen Verfassungsschutzes (CCC, 2012, 60 Min.)
- RAF und Gladio: Ex-Terrorist Bommi Baumann (2010, 40 Min.)
Bücher
- Geheimdienst, Politik, Medien (Schmidt-Eenboom, 2004)
- Gekaufte Journalisten (Udo Ulfkotte, Kopp Verlag, 2014)
- Unheimlich zu Diensten (Ekkehardt/Spoo/Agee, 1987)