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L.A. Times Reporter Submitted Stories to CIA Prior to Publication

posted by n1 on Tuesday September 30 2014, @11:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the journalism,-but-not-as-we-know-it dept.

JNCF writes:

The Intercept reports:

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.

[...] The emails also show that Dilanian shared his work with the CIA before it was published, and invited the agency to request changes. On Friday April 27, 2012, he emailed the press office a draft story that he and a colleague, David Cloud, were preparing. The subject line was “this is where we are headed,” and he asked if “you guys want to push back on any of this.”

It appears the agency did push back. On May 2, 2012, he emailed the CIA a new opening to the story with a subject line that asked, “does this look better?”

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:26AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:26AM (#100273)

    You have to register an account to get it? That's a bug. Any time an account is needed, it's probably a bug.

  • (Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:41AM

    by Horse With Stripes (577) on Wednesday October 01 2014, @03:41AM (#100281)

    Hmm ... I see ... you should probably register that bug so they can fix it. The best way to do that is to head on over to GitHub.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:27AM (#100379)

      The AC can't do that because github is a piece of broken crap and requires an account. Didn't you read any of the discussion here? That bug needs to be fixed before it can be used to log any of these bugs!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @06:01PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @06:01PM (#100567)
        That isn't the reason he said he wouldn't use it. Maybe you should work on your own reading comprehension before you tangle up with others about it.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:01PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:01PM (#100686)

          Try again, Tork. You're the one who didn't read the comment you replied to.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:55PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 01 2014, @10:55PM (#100728)
            Actually he said it was because he was overly zealous about using OSS.