Spinning Intelligence

In Spinning Intelligence, contributors heralding from government, journalism, and academia confront the complementary yet often tense relationship between intelligence-gathering organizations and the media. Addressing high-level strategic issues all the way down to the operation of individual committees and departments, this anthology is not just for students of government and politics, but for anyone interested in the relationship between reporting and espionage. Essays from the perspective of the journalist trace the evolving relationship between news media outlets and the government, especially with regards to advances in technology. Essays from the perspective of the political institution explain governmental oversight of intelligence agencies, the operation of clandestine information units, and the laws that govern the control of information. Additional contributions investigate the exploitation of the globalized media by intelligence agencies; the CIA's reliance on open sources for intelligence purposes; the real-world use of open source intelligence in rolling back Libya's nuclear program; and the depiction of intelligence in popular culture, from films to popular fiction, which helped facilitate rendition and torture and has conditioned our responses to both. A final essay focuses on cultural representations of the war on terror and their implications for issues of national security.