Tom Secker at SpyCulture.com reports:
In the wake of the scandal over the CIA giving classified information to the makers of Zero Dark Thirty the Agency's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) carried out an audit into their involvement in the entertainment industry. The report heavily criticises the CIA's entertainment liaison office (ELO) for terrible record keeping and a very casual culture. What emerges from this report is that the ELO care more about being secretive concerning their own activities than they care about protecting the secrets of other departments within the CIA.
[...] The OIG looked at 8 productions out of these 22, though details of the 8 are redacted, save to say there were 2 of each type of project (books, films etc.). They found that in 3 cases the ELO had no records whatsoever of their involvement and engagement in the project. The other 5 provided 'only limited' records. Apparently the OPA has now implemented a new database system that will make it easy to search for records of recent projects they have supported. And also means that their FOIA office will have to stop pulling this 'what, who, me?' bullshit with requesters like myself.
When it came to whether the OPA/ELO were behaving in keeping with their own regulations the OIG found that:
We were unable to determine whether entertainment industry requests for support were handled in a consistent and fair manner. OPA does not maintain records of entertainment industry requests for briefings, interviews, and visits that are denied by CIA. As such, it was not possible to assess decisions to deny CIA support for compliance with AR[redacted]. Regarding those entertainment industry requests that were supported by CIA, there was not sufficient documentation to assess the decision and the nature and extent of the support for compliance with AR[redacted].
[...] This is demonstrated aptly by the question of how Mark Boal ended up at a high-level ceremony mixing with senior CIA officers and members of SEAL Team Six. The OIG's report into that specific issue concluded that they couldn't establish who invited Boal, or whether Leon Panetta knew he would be there and thus was guilty of allowing a Hollywood screenwriter to access classified information. The OIG cannot answer these basic questions, let alone the more interesting question of why the OPA/ELO wanted Boal to be there and whether this was some kind of initiation or reward for rewriting his film to suit their agenda. The excuse given was that he was there to 'absorb the emotion of the event', which could mean anything.
The article has much more detail, and all the source documents available to download.
[Editor's Note: The article is not currently working for unknown reasons, but is still available via google cache. ]
[Editor's Note: The article should be working now. ]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Bot on Monday November 16 2015, @06:05PM
From Latin, intra + tenere, "maintain inside", keep a certain mood up. Somehow I suspect that the links between entertainment and power are more ramified than whatever a single CIA office can manage.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 16 2015, @06:15PM
> /join #OpParis - https://webchat.anonops.com/?channels=OpParis [anonops.com] I just read a litte treatise on disinformation, published by someone associated with Anonymous.
Then, this discussion. Well, yeah, the CIA promulgates disinformation. And, they certainly don't want to be held accountable for it. Imagine that. Our intelligence agencies, just like name brand drinks and clothes and computers, know that they can get their shots in through Hollyweird. Talk to the producer, and get him to alter things just a little here, and a little there, just to get the message across.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @10:52PM
someone associated with Anonymous
Do I even need to say anything?
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday November 17 2015, @01:23AM
Uhhhhh, no.... you seem to have already published the treatise on disinformation.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 16 2015, @06:31PM
Which president was it again who recognized that Hollywood was America's most important and effective propaganda tool?
No wonder the CIA is involved!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by digitalaudiorock on Monday November 16 2015, @10:42PM
For those who haven't see the Frontline episode on this titled Secrets, Politics and Torture [pbs.org] it's quite an eye opener. They played the film makers like a fiddle to get a story out there that flew in the face of all the facts...even their own. Seriously fucked up goings on...and a large portion of the population will believe that version of the story forever.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday November 17 2015, @08:32AM
Well, that was fucking depressing.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday November 17 2015, @01:43AM
Leave ELO alone... i like them: i used to borrow my brothers albums all the time. THEY ARE GODS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrffDM3hHk8&index=3&list=RDjNJkh2JIsVY [youtube.com]
bluurg.... sploosh....
But hey... i like Jethro Tull:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0guWypvRQU [youtube.com] (sploosh again)
or better known:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUEA5NWlQU0 [youtube.com]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---