BBC, Reuters Involved in UK Government Plot to Spread Cold War Propaganda, Docs Reportedly Show

Ed.'s note: Certainly not anything most internet sleuths and people in the Alt Media have not been aware of.

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Source: Sputnik

January 14, 2020

Negotiations to make secret payments to Reuters were led by the Information Research Department, a shady propaganda arm of the Foreign Office which had a major impact on Western media, culture and academia in their positions on and coverage of the USSR and other communist countries before being closed down in 1977.

The British government made secret payments to Reuters in the 1960s and early 1970s, with the funds concealed in BBC subscription payments to the news agency, declassified government papers show.

In a partially redacted government document from 1969 marked "Secret" and titled "Funding of Reuters by HMG" (Her Majesty's Government), an official indicated that the government was "now in a position to conclude an agreement providing discreet Government support for Reuter services in the Middle East and Latin America."

"HMG's interests should be well served by the new arrangement," the document boasted, explaining that "What HMG might secure, in effect, is the chance to influence in some measure the whole Reuter output."

The declassified papers show that the government paid Reuters what was referred to as an "enhanced subscription" of 245,000 pounds before 1969, with payments reduced to 100,000 pounds for 1969-1970 and zero between 1972 and 1973.

Reuters, one of the largest news agencies in the world, provides news in English and a number of local languages about regional and global events, and is subscribed to by smaller media organizations including newspapers and broadcasters worldwide, making it highly influential.

A Reuters spokesman sought to play down the significance of the declassified papers, saying that "many news organizations received some form of state subsidy after World War Two." The spokesman admitted, however, that "the arrangement in 1969 was not in keeping with our Trust Principles and we would not do this today."

Commenting on the revelations, a BBC spokesperson said that the BBC's charter "guarantees editorial independence irrespective of whether funding comes from the UK government, the license fee or commercial sources."

Please go to Sputnik to read the entire article.
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