Operation Mockingbird

 We have an unstructured conversation about Operation Mockingbird. But first we talk about the Northern Mockingbird and How to Kill a Mockingbird.

Then we dive into the conspiracy theory that the US Government infiltrated large media organizations. Supposedly this project was shut down in the 19070s, but does it continue secretly to this day?

One of the sources on the legitimacy that this project did  in fact exist at one time can be found here (PDF warning).

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Any views expressed on this podcast are those solely of the hosts and is for entertainment purposes only. None of the content is medical advice or financial advice.

Special thanks to Tim Wright aka CoLD SToRAGE for his permission to use the song Operatique.

Transcript

I Hate Talking: 0:29

Welcome to episode 47 of I Hate Talking. Hi everyone. So our word or phrase of this episode is mockingbird. Woohoo. Now, this particular word is used in some other things we've referenced. It is a word used in a book title, How to Kill a Mockingbird. Uh-huh, read that Cliff Notes version. Cliff Notes version. You never read the whole thing? I don't think I have. Well, that may be part of your required reading for 2025. And it is obviously the actual bird, mockingbird. And then it is also the name of a project, AKA Project Mockingbird. That's what I want to know about. That is true, but before we do that, we'll talk about just the bird itself, which is A bird that is Local to the United States and it is a type of what was called New World songbirds, and they are particularly known for their ability to mimic other birds and even other noises such as insects, amphibians, or man-made noises. OK. They're only known in the. North America. Yep, pretty much. Only North America, they do extend down into Central America, Mexico, and some parts of the Caribbean, a little bit into Canada, but primarily within the more temperate regions of the United States. OK, interesting. I didn't know that. Now these are particularly northern mockingbirds, so maybe there's some other kind of mockingbirds, but I think when most people are talking about mockingbirds, especially in our circles as we are US citizens that we're typically gonna be talking about the northern mockingbird. Have you ever seen one before? I have seen and heard them before, yes. Do they really, like, does it take a long time, like a parrot will repeat things after they hear it multiple times, or will it just instinctively repeat immediately? I'm not sure. I would imagine that they would have to hear it a few times to sort of know how to do it and then also, like, is it something that worth repeating or is it gonna be, you know, something that actually is gonna call unwanted attention to them if they are repeating that particular song or noise? Mhm. Now, there's not a lot to be uncovered here in the etymology because the word mockingbird comes from two words, mocking and bird. Obviously, bird is pretty self-explanatory and then mocking probably nearer just as a self-explanatory because they are mocking quote unquote, the same noises of whatever they are repeating. So that is the etymology, mockingbird. Yeah, very good. So what we actually want to talk about is Operation Mockingbird and What that is in maybe the realm of conspiracy theories where we are a conspiracy theory adjacent podcast, but we'll talk about it and sort of see what we think about it and you, our listeners can share this particular episode if you so desire with others that you think may enjoy it, or just rate it, comment, do all those things as you feel so drawn to do so. But I have not done a lot of research on Operation Mockingbird recently, nor really in preparation for this particular episode, so maybe we'll do a little bit in the background if we run into any roadblocks, but essentially, from what I recall, Operation Mockingbird is a conspiracy theory that basically states that the government, specifically the US government established plants within Media corporations to then therefore control the narrative where they would have people that were perhaps trained in You know, the three letter agencies that then went to work for media companies and then therefore are able to spin the news as it were, in a way that the US government is portrayed more positively or that the narrative is directed in such a direction that maybe is better for those that are in control and in power. And I think this would have probably been done around the 1970s that this was sort of set up sort of with, I think the advent of the CIA and things of that nature and The conspiracy theory is that that's what happened at that time, but that it does continue to this very day. So what you're saying, Project Mockingbird is, is like, theoretically, I I'm not, but I am a government trained employee. We're one of those three-letter agencies. Now we come to you, I say, hey. What do you think about this? Isn't that strange? And I try to spin it, and then I would have you divulge the information and I can spin it and kind of persuade you. And the narrative to what the government as a whole, wants us to believe. Not quite, because it's actually sort of a two-step process, not a two-party process. I think what you were describing there is that there would be somebody that works for a government agency and then somehow influences the media person. What Mockingbird is, Operation Mockingbird. Specifically, is that the three-letter government agencies trained people and then these specific people are now the people that work for the media companies. OK, but they covertly entered the media companies. Yes, some would say that it's not all that covert and that you can actually see some of the connections. I think Anderson Cooper is one of the ones that is heralded from the conspiracy theorists as one of these people that has significant ties to government agencies. There's also actually uh ties to some of the moderators of Reddit that can go back to. Some of these particular government agencies or people in high positions of power and some of the connections are therefore helping to make this particular conspiracy theory maybe more of a reality. OK. Walk in the line here because I do not want him to come after us. You mentioned Anderson Cooper. It is a pretty big trope that women believe whatever Anderson Cooper says, because he's very attractive, and the way he presents information is attractive. So, are you saying that like the government saw him and said, oh, they will believe him because of his attractiveness. And so they trained him. And now they're having him spew information that we will believe because we want to believe Anderson Cooper. Yes, essentially, and that, you know, maybe Anderson Cooper was selected as part of the Again, theoretical program and that that may have been a preceding factor or maybe a factor that came after the fact, but nonetheless that Anderson Cooper was an intern in the CIA and that's actually a documented, yes, OK. Oh man, we're seeing your sister this weekend. I'm gonna ask her about that. Because that is one of the bonding moments I feel like your sister and I had was, I mean, obviously not like a crush, but like uh intrigue with Anderson Cooper, we both had. We I remember early, early in our relationship chatting about him. And uh I wanna know if she knows one. And 2, what she thinks of him now, 17 years later, like, is she as intrigued with him as she used to be? I remember even joking with her like, well, maybe your brother will become him one day. And she's like, did you see our family jeans? He's not getting that silver hair. -- Referring -- to me. Yeah, you don't have his silver hair and that's fine. Yeah. Knowing your family genetics, silver hair is not necessarily in your genes. So it was kind of a funny joke, and I love you, you're so handsome. I would not trade you for Anderson Cooper. But I do like his hair. Yup, so definitely not going to be a silver fox myself, but Anyway, that's the theory. We are not in any way stating that this is true, but interesting connections nonetheless. That one could look at and draw their own conclusions. Now, Operation Mockingbird itself is a pretty well established fact, however, because there were certain fact-finding committees that were established, particularly after Watergate, to find out exactly what different three-letter organizations were doing at the time and that is one of the ways that Operation Mockingbird came to light. And I guess looking at some of the dates here, it was from the 50s to the 70s and then was quote unquote shut down sometime in the 70s. But just like the CIA life log that got shut down, that probably continued just under a different name. Because The internet was easy, uh, is more accessible then. Like, obviously, OK, it sounds ridiculous. I almost said it today. I have a group I'm part of, and a lot of the women are about 10 years older than I am. We meet weekly. And He almost asked him today cause it came up. I didn't want to sound ridiculous. But like, what do people do without cell phones? They kept complaining about like, how distracted they are constantly with their phones. And I got my first cell phone when I was maybe a junior in high school, and it was a, I didn't have internet or anything. It was very basic. But like, I wondered what they did when they had little kids in the 1990s, early 2000s. Without cell phones. Like, how did you entertain yourself? What did you do with your time? Cause I waste so much time scrolling on my phone. So the internet, right, like in the 50s, you only got news from what you heard on the radio or your morning newspaper, right? And then as media progressed and you got more of it frequently, it was harder to control that message. Is that what you're saying? Well, perhaps, I mean, there were a lot of major news sources that were, I guess more. Consolidated, as it were, right, you had maybe like 5 major newspapers and then, you know, all the local newspapers and a lot of those local newspapers would just get their news from the major newspapers. So perhaps from that aspect, yes, it was quote unquote more easy to control some of the things that were portrayed in the media. However, in this day and age, there's things that you can just change and You know, if you got something wrong in the headline in the newspaper. And it needed to be retracted or didn't go the exact way that the particular editor wanted it to, that that was now in print and you couldn't really change it, but now with some of the electronic media, you can just go edit the post or edit the headline and unless you had a screenshot or take the time to use Wayback machine or something of that nature to look at what the web page had previously that now the News is just different based on real-time feedback from the particular people that they are reaching. Right. So is your argument, is Project Mockingbird still going on or is it over? So, officially it was ended in the 70s as an official project, but the conspiracy theory that I think makes sense is that it continues to this very day. So they would not say there's a Project Mockingbird. If you talk to somebody, And said, is this the Project Mockingbird? They would act like they didn't know what you're talking about, right? Well, I think they're covert operatives. So one, I'm not gonna really have any particular interaction with people that are that far up in the news media, nor if I did have that opportunity, are they going to say that that is a true thing. What if I am? This podcast is part of a project, Mockingbird. Mr. and Mrs. Smith. You saw that movie, didn't you? That's true, but that is not. Uh what's happening here. that you know of. Correct. So people think that Project Mockingbird is going on today. What are they doing? So there's some examples that, again, we could dig up the links if people are interested in seeing this, but there, I think during COVID was an example where there were multiple different news outlets that essentially said in some cases word for word, the exact same thing. So that was indicative that they had this script that was passed down from A particular source and they were made to essentially recite this for all these different media affiliates that were talking about. I'm pretty sure it was COVID was the example here. Uh, there's some even anecdotal evidence from my experience back in high school, there was a particular event that I went to where you would sort of pretend to be government officials for a week and There was another student there that was from overseas because She was stationed at a military base because her parents were in the military, and I think. Either as part of the exercise or she for some reason had newspapers from other parts of the world and they had some of the exact same things that were in some of the US newspapers were like word for word. And it was sort of odd to me that like the media was so similar or coordinated from like my own observation, as well as the fact that Some of these foreign newspapers had details that were not present in the US newspapers. And this did not surprise her at all. This was like, well, of course, the media lies, it's not any big surprise to me. So that was probably my first particular run-in with just the fact that The mainstream media is not all that it seems to be. And then over the course of the years researching Operation Mockingbird and things of that nature, like Operation Lifeo, which I think still maybe went over your head, but maybe that'd be another episode for another time. I don't remember you saying that. But so this individual you're talking about, her family in real life was overseas. Is that what you're saying? Yes. So she's used to the narrative. I'm curious. Obviously, I only homeschool our little group of kids. So I'm so curious if there's a teacher out there or anything like that. Say you write in a book review, you read a book and you write a summary. I wonder what the kids say. Is it all the same or is it very different? Because often when I see very similar things in the news, I'm just like, well, they didn't do their research very much. They got their little summary and they just fill it out. Like they don't want to put a mental load into reading everything, researching it all, and coming up with their own synopsis. So they're gonna see the summary, and they're just gonna repeat it. And that does exist to some degree, right? The Associated Press will be putting out various news articles and they may be picked up by local syndicates or whatnot and just repeated word for word, so we believe it. Right, but Operation Mockingbird would go above that. It's that the Associated Press as an example, right, is getting some Particular narrative to publish from the powers that be in order to again spin the narrative in a particular fashion so that the people that are consuming the media are Made to be biased one direction or the other, right, but then that just goes crazy, right? Because then you're like, I'm gonna repeat the things I heard from these people because I trust them, but maybe they are persuaded and your trust is inaccurate. And that is the core thing of Operation Mockingbird is that While the things may be repeated. Are you trusting that it's from a valid source, or is it from someone that does not have your best interest in mind? Mm, OK, so a little side of that. is more Christians, and occasionally I've heard people challenge my beliefs in the Bible. And they're like, it's been translated so many times and things like that. So, I always go back to things like the subclusion and things like that where it's like, we have Tons of history of them saying the same thing or almost identical. You can trace it back. So I do believe that through all that. But as media is getting bigger. And things are changing so rapidly. It's not as easy as finding several scrolls that repeat each other, right? Like AI and Google and all that is a constant change in influx. You can find anyone to say anything you want at any point. You're gonna have someone that repeats what you believe. I suppose so, but this is not confirming your bias. It is that the bias is being transformed by the media that you consume. It's creating your bias. That's the theory. So believing that fluoride is bad. Oh good. Based on who's in the White House. Is that what you're saying? Mm, well, I guess that even gets into other conspiracy theories, right? Because I don't really think that people in the White House are necessarily in charge and the ones that would be directing some of these covert operations. So you don't believe that Trump hired RFK? Yeah, I believe that Trump hired RFK. I don't believe that they necessarily have as much power as they, -- the American people perceive -- that RFK hates fluoride. Yes, I do believe that that is true, but I don't think RFK has any ability to change Operation Mockingbird and what is portrayed in the media. So, are you saying that like they chose RFK who has the name recognition? Who has, I mean, for his age, his physical physique. It's amazing. So they say, you're gonna stand there and talk about health, and everyone has to believe you because of your name. And your physical appearance. Is that a mockingbird then? Is he a mockingbird? No, I would probably say that he is not really tied to the CIA. Do you think he believes things he's saying? Most of them. And is he making positive changes or changes just that the government wants us to make? So have you seen the advertisement that RFK did with all the food that is promoted by different government agencies? No, exactly, because Operation Mockingbird and mainstream media does not want that message to go out. So you're saying R is correct. And the Operation Mockingbird and the media are trying to shut him down. And they effectively did so because I don't think a lot of people have seen that particular thing. You have. I have. How'd you see it? Because I know that the mainstream media is not going to be a source of explicit truth, and I will look for alternative sources. But which alternative sources do you believe? I can make my own alternative source if you want. I can have a lot of fun with that. Now that is an interesting aspect of Operation Mockingbird because there is a contingent called controlled opposition, where Operation Mockingbird will set up opposition against itself and then control that narrative as well. It's like my grandma who told multiple of me and my cousins that we were her favorite grandchild. And then just let us duke it out. But grandma told me I'm her favorite. And they're like, she told me I'm their favorite. And uh she's just sitting there laughing at the chaos she created. Yeah, could be. Sort of the same thing. It's also interesting to note since you brought up Christianity and religion that a 1996 Senate memo and committee session. Actually states that not only were people in the media used for this type of thing, but actually clergy as well. Right, that makes sense, especially back when clergy were strongly tied to government, right? Or clergy were just maybe perhaps at that time more well respected and people would actually get their opinions from their clergy leader. And so if the particular three letter government agencies could plant their operatives within those positions, they could again, Shape and form people's opinions and biases. So I can go up to our pastor and say, what do you think of Project Mockingbird? And then watch his eyebrows and see if they flutter or anything, to see if he's hiding anything. I suppose so, but I think that. The people that would be set up are going to be. Trained by some form of government agency in the background, so I don't think that's the case here, but maybe so. All we're doing is theorizing. It I think they laugh so much thinking about what he would do. I feel like he would go to like To Kill a Mockingbird, is that what, what? Have I read that? I feel like that's where you would go to. You'd be really confused. But, yes, I do not think our specific church should be, we're not large, so we're probably not their demographic. Is that what you're saying? Correct. So would you argue that you have to go to small media sources then? So you're not the demographic and you're not their paw and their thing cause you're not worth it? And I'm not saying that you avoid mainstream media sources altogether. I'm saying that you can have a balanced input of large media corporations and smaller media corporations. Now I think the thing to note there is that like we've already talked about the smaller media corporations may be just repeating. Or to use the old English mocking the larger media companies and then you can sort of balance that with some alternative media companies as well. OK, I believe that. But I think the key thing here is that there is proven fact that sometime in the past, The US government has specifically infiltrated media organizations in order to control the narrative and present to the public a particular thing that they want them to believe. It's probably not just America, right? It's probably, we assume all of history. Well, in other countries they don't even really hide it. Hm. So, that's the point. It's just to be aware of things that have actually happened in the past. And not just assume that they went away just because they said they were going to shut it down. Yeah, I play that. So, perhaps not as well coordinated of an episode as we usually do. But Maybe some insights that one can glean from this particular episode and the conversations that we're having, or maybe the government just was interfering with our conversation to shut us down. It's a theory. So, from your friends at I hate talking until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.