Video & Multimedia
Related: About this forumKill the Messenger (2014)
Given that good journalism tends to be in the eye of the beholder and views on what qualifies tends to differ wildly (even within the DU 'family').
It's worth noting that Gary Webb, who was once widely denounced, will now be immortalized on film:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025272048#post68
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)Dawgs
(14,755 posts)Plus, it looks good.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves.
radiclib
(1,811 posts)This should be fantastic. I hope it tells the whole story of how Webb's life was completely destroyed in the wake of his incredibly courageous journalism, the likes of which we rarely see anymore. K&R
tclambert
(11,085 posts)Webb revealed Reagan-approved CIA operations for selling crack cocaine in America to fund, guess who?, the Nicaraguan Contras, those bastions of virtuous counter-revolution.
Webb died in 2004 of two gunshots to the head. It was ruled a suicide. (Apparently that can happen.)
TT_Progress
(67 posts)But it looks good. I will probably see it at the theater.
navarth
(5,927 posts)and very timely in the era of Assange and Snowden. I hope it's successful.
777man
(374 posts)Here is a copy of the agreement between the Attorney General and DCI ALLOWING drugs to flow in unchecked
US CONGRESSWOMAN Maxine Waters Investigation
Quite unexpectedly, on April 30, 1998, I obtained a secret 1982 Memorandum of Understanding between the CIA and the Department of Justice, that allowed drug trafficking by CIA assets, agents, and contractors to go unreported to federal law enforcement agencies. I also received correspondence between then Attorney General William French Smith and the head of the CIA, William Casey, that spelled out their intent to protect drug traffickers on the CIA payroll from being reported to federal law enforcement.
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/17/world/cia-says-it-used-nicaraguan-rebels-accused-of-drug-tie.html
Then on July 17, 1998 the New York Times ran this amazing front page CIA admission: "CIA Says It Used Nicaraguan Rebels Accused of Drug Tie." "The Central Intelligence Agency continued to work with about two dozen Nicaraguan rebels and their supporters during the 1980s despite allegations that they were trafficking in drugs.... The agency's decision to keep those paid agents, or to continue dealing with them in some less formal relationship, was made by top officials at headquarters in Langley, Va.". (emphasis added)
.........The CIA had always vehemently denied any connection to drug traffickers and the massive global drug trade, despite over ten years of documented reports. But in a shocking reversal, the CIA finally admitted that it was CIA policy to keep Contra drug traffickers on the CIA payroll. The Facts speak for themselves. Maxine Waters, Member of Congress, September 19, 1998
The 1982 MOU that exempted the reporting requirement for drug trafficking was no oversight or misstatement. A remarkable series of letters between the Attorney General and the Director of Central Intelligence show how conscious and deliberate this exemption was.
On February 11, 1982 Attorney General William French Smith wrote to Director of Central Intelligence William Casey that, "I have been advised that a question arose regarding the need to add narcotics violations to the list of reportable non-employee crimes ... No formal requirement regarding the reporting of narcotics violations has been included in these procedures."
On March 2, 1982 Casey responded happily, "I am pleased that these procedures, which I believe strike the proper balance between enforcement of the law and protection of intelligence sources and methods..."
Simply stated, the Attorney General consciously exempted reporting requirements for narcotics violations by CIA agents, assets, and contractors. And the Director of Central Intelligence was pleased because intelligence sources and methods involved in narcotics trafficking could be protected from law enforcement. The 1982 MOU agreement clearly violated the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949. It also raised the possibility that certain individuals who testified in front of Congressional investigating committees perjured themselves.
....... Many questions remain unanswered. However, one thing is clear - the CIA and the Attorney General successfully engineered legal protection for the drug trafficking activities of any of its agents or assets. Maxine Waters, Member of Congress, September 19, 1998
Several informed sources have told me that an appendix to this Report was removed at the instruction of the Department of Justice at the last minute. This appendix is reported to have information about a CIA officer, not agent or asset, but officer, based in the Los Angeles Station, who was in charge of Contra related activities.According to these sources, this individual was associated with running drugs to South Central Los Angeles,around 1988. Let me repeat that amazing omission. The recently released CIA Report Volume II contained an appendix, which was pulled by the Department of Justice, that reported a CIA officer in the LA Station was hooked into drug running in South Central Los Angeles.
--U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters October 13. 1998, speaking on the floor of the US House of Representatives.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/117070568/US-Congresswoman-Maxine-Waters-Investigation-of-CIA-Contras-involvement-in-drug-sales-1996-2000
Exhibit 1
:
U.S. Attorney General William French Smith replies to a still classified letter from DCI William Casey requesting exemption from reporting drug crimes by CIA assets.
Source: cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/01.gif
Exhibit 2:
DCI William Casey happily agrees with William French Smith and signs the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exempting his agency from reporting drug crimes. This agreement covered both the Latin American conflicts and Afghanistan war. It remained in effect until August, 1995 when it was quietly rescinded by Janet Reno after Gary Webb began making inquiries for his series. The 1995 revision of the DoJ-CIA MOU specifically includes narcotics violations among the lists of potential offenses by non-employees that must be reported to DOJ.
Source: cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/13.gif
Exhibit 3:
On February 8, 1985, Deputy Chief of DoJ's Office of Intelligence Policy andReview (OIPR) from 1979 to 1991, A. R. Cinquegrana signed off on this letter approving the MOU. Mark M. Richard, Deputy Assistant Attorney General with responsibility for General Litigation and International Law Enforcement in 1982, states that he was unableto explain why narcotics violations were not on the list of reportable crimes except thatthe MOU had "other deficiencies, not just drugs."
Source: cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/cocaine/contra-story/14.gif
MOTHER JONES COVERAGE of "A TAINTED DEAL" - Analysis of The secret agreement (above) allowed drugs into the USA
https://web.archive.org/web/20050420101319/http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/1998/06/cia.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20050405214411/http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/total_coverage/coke.html
full background and supporting documents are here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022291453
MinM
(2,650 posts)MinM
(2,650 posts)https://twitter.com/YahooMovies/status/515558286423506945
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025587532
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
deutsey
(20,166 posts)On September 18, the agency released a trove of documents spanning three decades of secret government operations. Culled from the agencys in-house journal, Studies in Intelligence, the materials include a previously unreleased six-page article titled Managing a Nightmare: CIA Public Affairs and the Drug Conspiracy Story. Looking back on the weeks immediately following the publication of Dark Alliance, the document offers a unique window into the CIAs internal reaction to what it called a genuine public relations crisis while revealing just how little the agency ultimately had to do to swiftly extinguish the public outcry. Thanks in part to what author Nicholas Dujmovic, a CIA Directorate of Intelligence staffer at the time of publication, describes as a ground base of already productive relations with journalists, the CIAs Public Affairs officers watched with relief as the largest newspapers in the country rescued the agency from disaster, and, in the process, destroyed the reputation of an aggressive, award-winning reporter.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)777man
(374 posts)AlterNet / By Jeff Cohen
The Resurrection of Reporter Gary Webb: Thanks to Hollywood, Will He Get Last Word Against the CIAs Media Apologists?
With Kill the Messenger opening in 100s of theaters, Gary Webb may get the last word after all.
Photo Credit: Screen shot
October 5, 2014 |
Its been almost a decade since once-luminous investigative journalist Gary Webb extinguished his own life.
killthemessengerfilm
(2 posts)I found this forum ages ago and greatly appreciated the show of support for the film. Gary Webb really was one hell of a reporter, and that's putting it lightly. While avoiding all conspiracy talk, there has definitely been some "shuffling under the rug" of this film. A group of people are currently trying to petition to bring it back. Since this started, Focus Features has begun to expand the film again, but only slightly. If anyone would be interested in signing and spreading this petition, we (on behalf of Gary and his family) would be incredibly thankful. Every signature helps. We just want Gary's story told, especially in today's social climate, despite the fact that many powerful people have admitted to preferring just the opposite.
https://www.change.org/p/universal-pictures-support-gary-webb-and-re-release-kill-the-messenger-in-theaters
The unofficial twitter @killthemess2014 is serving as a meeting point for anyone interested in trying to push the film.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)K&R