I would be partial to this thesis, but I find it to be more a failing of the media. From Wikipedia: "In a democratic society, however, access to free informati

I would be partial to this thesis, but I find it to be more a failing of the media. From Wikipedia: "In a democratic society, however, access to free information plays a central role in creating a system of checks and balance, and in distributing power equally amongst governments, businesses, individuals, and other social entities. Access to verifiable information gathered by independent media sources, which adhere to journalistic standards, can also be of service to ordinary citizens, by empowering them with the tools they need in order to participate in the political process." People payed attention to the news during the Snowden disclosures. But it wasn't news worth paying attention to. There's a good history of media partnerships with TLA agencies - I'm just going to leave some links. I'm willing to write about it but this time of night I'm not prepared to spend the time curating something comprehensive. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/us/20generals.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/us/20generals.html [3] http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/another-runaway-general-army-deploys-psy-ops-on-u-s-senators-20110223?print=true http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/another-runaway-ge... [4] https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/04/former-l-times-reporter-cleared-stories-cia-publication/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/04/former-l-times... [5] http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/16/945768/-UPDATED-The-HB-Gary-Email-That-Should-Concern-Us-All http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/16/945768/-UPDATED-The... [6] https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/07/14/manipulating-online-polls-ways-british-spies-seek-control-internet/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/07/14/manipulating-o... [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing#Business_and_adoption https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing#Business_and_adop... [8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBGary#Astroturfing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBGary#Astroturfing [9] http://www.globalissues.org/article/461/media-reporting-journalism-and-propaganda http://www.globalissues.org/article/461/media-reporting-jour... [10] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04... [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Musab_al-Zarqawi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Musab_al-Zarqawi [12] http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/03/heroes-error?page=1 http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/03/heroes-error?pag...