Sharyl Attkisson Pulls Back the Curtain

American Thinker  "Sharyl Attkisson’s The Smear gives insight to how news is made today. It goes a long way in convincing readers that they should believe only a small portion of what is released by the government and reported by the press. This leads to a very cynical view of the news and confirms Otto von Bismarck’s claim that "Nothing is proven until it is officially denied." Attkinsson gives an account of how massive the smear industry is. My only criticism of the book is her contention that, “the organized political smear entered the contemporary marketplace circe 1987.”  Some of these smear techniques can probably be found in a study of politics in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. The “scientific" smear might be traced back to George Creel’s World War I Committee on Public Information or Edward Bernays 1920s book Propaganda. She also appears to attribute the advice “Admit nothing” to the CIA. This is a classic Communist technique. Dozens of Communist spies had denied their connection to the Communist party and have been believed by the gullible for decades. She mentions the “infamous senator Joseph McCarthy.” who was the victim of an extremely effective smear campaign. She might benefit from reading M. Stanton Evans’ Blacklisted by History. Few people could survive the scrutiny and smear campaign Senator McCarthy was subjected to.

"Her account of Larry Flynt’s reward for information on Congressional extramarital affairs was revealing." . . .

Sharyl Attkisson is an American author and host of the weekly Sunday public affairs program Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, which airs on television stations operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. She was formerly an investigative correspondent in the Washington bureau for CBS News. She had also substituted as anchor for the CBS Evening News. She resigned from CBS News on March 10, 2014, after 21 years with the network. 

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing). He has a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from St. Mary’s University. He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.