The Central Intelligence Agency
In 1949, the Central Intelligence Agency Act (Public law 81-110) officially authorized the new agency the ability to employ confidential fiscal and administrative procedures, and granted the agency the impunity in regards to the usage of Federal funds. At the same time, it exempted the agency from disclosing "organization, functions, officials, titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed."
After the assassination of JFK in 1963, former president Truman wrote an op ed. in the Washington Post expressing misgivings towards what the agency had morphed into and what it would become.
—PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN (December 1963)
Source:
The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence by Victor Marchetti and John D. Marks.
FOIA
The Freedom of Information Act is a critical source of information for the American public seeking to understand what's happening within the US federal government. Equally as important, material acquired through the FOIA have become vital sources of primary documentation for journalists as well.
Since 1967, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has provided the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government. Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested under the FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement.
The FOIA also requires agencies to proactively post online certain categories of information, including frequently requested records. As Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court have all recognized, the FOIA is a vital part of our democracy.
The CIA Library FOIA Online Collection
Welcome back to Deep Dives. We’re excited to announce our second research challenge and get right back to digging in the vaults.
This instalment of the Deep Dives Research Challenge focuses on the Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room of the online CIA Library.
There are hundreds of thousands of declassified CIA documents
available via the online reading room.
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/
From UFO related documents to presidential briefings to remote viewing and the Stargate Project, the archive contains a trove of information once considered classified and not available for public consumption.
Secondary Resource
Another source that might be extremely valuable
in your research is found at archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/cia-collection
Declassified documents are re-categorized into convenient subgroups including:
- Office of Strategic Services – 52,047 files
- Nazi War Crimes – 27,127 files
- Stargate- 12,106 files
- MKUltra – 1,778 files
- Director Richard Helms - 806 files
- Phoenix Assassination Program - 73 files
Time Extension
After consulting with the team and receiving feedback from the community, we’re holding this challenge for 2 WEEKS rather than one. This should allow researchers more digging time and enough breathing room to put their posts together.
Always Exercise Caution
When engaging in research of government websites, intelligence agencies and whistleblower sites, such as Wikileaks, we strongly urge you to take all necessary precautions.
Please see our previous post that addresses
protecting your online privacy, here
The Challenge
- Search the CIA FOIA library reading room at cia.gov
- Find an overlooked, underrated, underreported or obscure document on a topic that interests you.
- Build a post around your findings.
- Provide additional sources to make your case and strengthen your position
- Explain the significance of the document and why it’s an important piece of news that should be communicated to the wider public.
In the same vein as the Deep Dives Wikileaks Archive Research Challenge, this investigation is also wide open and up to the individual to find a point of focus.
Rules
- Help spread the word, please resteem this post
- Limited to 1 contest entry per account
- Submissions must be made in a separate post (not in the comments)
- Submissions must be posted before the deadline (UTC – 12pm Thursday June 14th, 2018)
- NEW – This research challenge is open for 2 WEEKS!
- Use the lead tag ‘deepdives’
- Your entry must include references to documents found in the CIA FOIA collection
- Provide a link to the specific document or page
- Make an attempt to keep your post concise and to the point
- You may leave a link to your entry in the comments below
- Please, do not plagiarize the work of others
Note: Longer entries with multiple links and references does not necessarily equate with higher quality. Clear and concise work with a handful of supporting sources is preferable.
Winners
- Meet the rules criteria
- Winners will be announced 48hrs after submission deadline
- Well researched
- Fully sourced
- Clearly presented
- Original content (not widely reported on in media)
- Significance should be articulated
- 3 Outstanding contributions will be acknowledged
Prizes
- Liquid SBD earned by the original contest post will make up the total rewards
- Example: 100SBD – 1st place = 50% // 2nd = 30% // 3rd =20%
- Bonus
and
upvotes and resteems for deserving and original contributions
- SP earned from the challenge announcements and the winner’s announcement posts will go to the community account and help build
to support the community and future research.
Your Contributions
Those that do not ‘win’ should not view their work and efforts as wasted. All submissions are valuable and will be contributing to building a body of research on the blockchain. We hope that contributors support each other’s efforts wherever possible whether by sharing tips, links or through constructive feedback to their fellow researchers.
Good Luck and Happy Digging!
Deep Dives Community
Deep Dives Mission
- Promote original content
- Promote investigative journalism
- Promote focused and quality research
- Encourage community engagement
- Encourage collaboration and teamwork
- Recognize and reward high quality original content
Future Challenges
As previously discussed with members of the community, future initiatives will eventually be more focused on specific themes, archives and sub-archives.
Though Deep Dives has changed gears from the Wikileaks archives to the CIA FOIA library, we want to make it known that we’re planning on an archival rotation allowing for regular research challenges into multiple collections.
Our hope is that eventually research projects will be community driven.
Have your say, and let us know what topics you feel would be worthwhile for Deep Dives research!
Community Feedback
Deep Dives is a work in progress any suggestions, feedback or input from you is greatly appreciated.
Join us on Discord at the Writer’s Block - https://discord.gg/zjnMh6
- Tell the Writer’s Block hosts at Welcome Centre that you’re there for The Big Dig channel, and they will give you a role that creates instant access.