TUMBLEWEED BLUES: ‘Covert Influence Activities Are Not Journalism’
TUMBLEWEED BLUES: ‘Covert Influence Activities Are Not Journalism’
And other things I have learned in four decades as an investigative reporter
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“Covert influence activities are not journalism.”—US State Deparment
Finally, the words arrived.
Six perfect words.
Six perfect words to cut through the noisy mob of billionaires, felons, and useful idiots.
The US State Department must have a helluva writer on its team to have summed up in six words what a girl like I has written thousands of reports on — that we are under attack and the attacks are ongoing. The weapon’s grade psychological warfare targeting our nation has nothing to do with free speech and everything to do with subverting truth, reality, and our ability to defend and cherish our democracy.
“Accurate information is vital to the health of any democracy... When state or non-state actors spread disinformation, material deliberately meant to deceive or divide our public, they attack the very foundations of our free and open society.”—Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, September 13, 2024
As Antony Blinken explained yesterday, RT — Russia Today — is tied to Russian intelligence, and the operations produced by Russian intelligence services is not journalism and in fact, linked directly to Russian military activities.
As you know, I have written comprehensively on information laundering, so to hear those words come from the Secretary of State was meaningful to me. Here are his remarks in their entirety:
Last night, I spent time with a family member who was watching a 1994 film called The Paper, an all-star cast directed by Ron Howard.
It was a nostalgic look back for me of an industry that no longer exists: the newspaper business, pre-interweb.
I reflected on all the newsrooms I’ve been in — from the Point Reyes Light, to the Los Angeles Times, to Fox 11 News, to All Jazeera America, to Byline Times, and a million magazines and publications in between.
I am a relic from another era, when journalists got into the business like firefighters and cops, to serve and protect.
Billionaire-funded, hedge fund, and corporate media does not serve and protect the people — their products are, at best, simp rags for oligarchs, at worst, sleeping with the enemy.
The Tumbleweed Blues
I recall the moment I looked around a once vibrant newsroom that had bustled with life and energy, where smart people did their best to outwit the bean counters in the front office so truth could make air, and I got an acute case of the tumbleweed blues. All I saw was dead air — a metaphorical tumbleweed blowing through a desolate wasteland.
Oh well. Here we are.
I am now an army of ever fewer, typing in defense of democracy, 40 years of experience, using my words to the best of my ability to cut through the lies, a P.I. for the people, praying we keep this ship afloat…
“Our most powerful antidote to Russia’s lies is the truth. It’s shining a bright light to what the Kremlin is trying to do under the cover of darkness.”—Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, September 13, 2023
… in service of truth, which I desperately believe in.
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More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
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Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Must listen to remarks by Blinken. For all of us who have followed Heidi throughout the years, this is music to our ears. Thanks for posting this, Heidi, and thanks for your continued tenacity and grit in exposing the lies in pursuit of truth.