WORDS
OF DISGUISE
(from CIA
and the Media, by Carl Bernstein, originally published in Rolling
Stone,
Part of the confusion
surrounding the use of American journalists by the CIA stems from semantic
distinctions peculiar to the intelligence‑gathering profession. By
carefully (and often misleadingly) using such spyspeak terms as “contract
employee,” “agent,” “control capability,” “unilateral memo of understanding,” “agent
of opportunity” and “intelligence asset,” the Agency has made it virtually
impossible for almost any layman—including reporters experienced in covering
intelligence activities and senators accustomed to being briefed by
intelligence officers—to determine the exact nature of many relationships
maintained by the CIA over the years with individual journalists. The Agency
has also managed to obscure the most elemental fact about the relationships
detailed in its files: i.e., that there was recognition by all parties involved
that the cooperating journalists were working for the CIA—whether or not they
were paid or had signed employment contracts.
The
problem of determining the precise role of individual journalists has been
compounded by the CIA’s use of equally technical terms peculiar to the
profession of journalism—among them “stringer, “ “accredited correspondent,” “editorial
employee,” “general circulation,” “freelance” and even “reporter.” CIA
officials, particularly Colby, have consistently entangled in a semantic
thicket the answers to such seemingly simple questions as, “Has Stewart Alsop
ever worked for the CIA?” or “Has the Agency ever used Time magazine correspondents as undercover operatives?” The answer to both questions is yes, although
Colby has refused to answer either.
The
figure of 400 journalists who maintained covert relationships with the Agency
refers only to those who were “tasked” in their undercover assignments or had a
mutual understanding that they would help the Agency or were subject to some
form of CIA contractual control. It does not include even larger numbers of
journalists who occasionally traded favors with CIA officers in the normal give‑and‑take
that exists between reporters and their sources. Their activities, too, are
detailed in Agency files.