Former CIA Director John Brennan Joins NBC

Former CIA Director John Brennan has been hired as a paid contributor by NBC and MSNBC, the media company announced. Leading the agency from 2013 until early 2017, under the Obama administration, the ex-CIA chief made his first appearance in his new role as a senior national security and intelligence analyst on 'Meet the Press' Sunday.

Image from Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

The presence of former military and intelligence officials in newsrooms was once thought controversial. In 2008, the New York Times wrote an investigative analysis outlining the George W. Bush administration’s use of military analysts to shape terrorism coverage.

Internal Pentagon documents referred to them as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration “themes and messages” to millions of Americans “in the form of their own opinions.”

The largest contingent of analysts were affiliated with Fox News, followed by NBC and CNN, the investigation found.

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References

RT International. (2018). ‘News directly from the CIA’: Ex-director Brennan hired by NBC. [online] Available at: https://www.rt.com/usa/417937-cia-john-brennan-nbc/ [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].