ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Operation Mockingbird

Operation Mockingbird was a secret operation by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the 1950s and 1960s. It was set up to influence the media by secretly paying journalists and newspapers to write stories that were favourable to the United States government. The CIA wanted to make sure that the news was always on the American side and to control what people read and think about.