© www.c-spanarchives.orgWilling patsy, Ken Dilanian calibrated his news stories to fit CIA approval.
A prominent national security reporter for the Los Angeles Times routinely submitted drafts and detailed summaries of his stories to CIA press handlers prior to publication, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.Email exchanges between CIA public affairs officers and Ken Dilanian, now an Associated Press intelligence reporter who previously covered the CIA for the
Times, show that
Dilanian enjoyed a closely collaborative relationship with the agency, explicitly promising positive news coverage and sometimes sending the press office entire story drafts for review prior to publication. In at least one instance, the
CIA's reaction appears to have led to significant changes in the story that was eventually published in the
Times.
"I'm working on a story about congressional oversight of drone strikes that
can present a good opportunity for you guys," Dilanian
wrote in one email to a CIA press officer, explaining that what he intended to report would be "reassuring to the public" about CIA drone strikes. In another, after a series of back-and-forth emails about a pending story on CIA operations in Yemen, he
sent a full draft of an unpublished report along with the subject line, "does this look better?" In another, he directly
asks the flack: "You wouldn't put out disinformation on this, would you?"
Dilanian's emails were included in
hundreds of pages of documents that the CIA turned over in response to two
FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests seeking records on the agency's interactions with reporters. They include email exchanges with reporters for the Associated Press,
Washington Post,
New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. In addition to Dilanian's deferential relationship with the CIA's press handlers, the documents show that
the agency regularly invites journalists to its McLean, Va., headquarters for briefings and other events. Reporters who have addressed the CIA include the
Washington Post's David Ignatius, the former ombudsmen for the
New York Times, NPR, and
Washington Post, and Fox News' Brett Baier, Juan Williams, and Catherine Herridge.
Comment: Hold the presses!! As an access reporter, Dilanian was a more than willing enabler of official spin and lies, including those he co-created. Who knows, for example, how many lives might have been saved from drone attacks had the facts and objections to drone strikes been legitimately reported and truthfully investigated. Shame on the
Los Angeles Times for colluding with the CIA by not enforcing your journalist code of conduct, for not doing due diligence on your reporters, for passing on disinformation that taints the efficacy of your own publication and egregiously violates the public trust.
That said, MSM is its own can of inbred worms. Dilanian is despicable, but he is also a sticker-face for a corporate media in bed with the government, un-beholding to the public it dis-serves. "The need by journalists for access to these power centres is one of the key components of this filtering system. If you are not prepared to be chummy with the CIA, you won't last long as an intelligence reporter." -Jonathan Cook
Associated Press...it's your move. And we're watching!
See also:
CIA emails expose access journalist at work
Comment: It's certainly looking like Ebola is is going out of control and medical authorities are not going to be able to handle its wrath: