[Peace-discuss] Disinformation

[Alfred Kagan]

FYI, resolution just passed by the American Library Association Council.


RESOLUTION on DISINFORMATION, MEDIA MANIPULATION
& the DESTRUCTION of PUBLIC INFORMATION

Whereas the American Library Association recognizes the contribution 
librarianship can make in giving support for efforts to inform and 
educate the people of the United States on critical problems facing 
society (Policy 1.1); and

Whereas the mission of ALA is to provide leadership for the 
development, promotion, and improvement of library and information 
services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance 
learning and ensure access to information for all (Policy 1.2); and

Whereas ALA has as one of its officially stated goals that government 
information be widely and easily available (Policy 1.3: Priority Areas 
and Goals); and

Whereas inaccurate information, distortions of truth, excessive 
limitations on access to information, and the removal or destruction of 
information from the public domain are anathema to the ethos of 
librarianship and to the functioning of a healthy democracy; and

Whereas evidence exists revealing that some U.S. government officials 
and agencies use disinformation in pursuit of political and economic 
power, as well as war, thwarting the development of an informed 
citizenry and constituting a “critical problem facing society”; and

Whereas the list of documented instances of government use of 
disinformation continues to grow, and includes:
♣	the distribution to media outlets of government produced “video news 
releases” under the guise of independent journalism;
♣	the use of commentators paid by government agencies to express views 
favorable to government policies in clear violation of Federal 
Communications Commission regulations;
♣	the censorship of scientific studies warning of the true threat of 
global warming;
♣	the fabrication and deliberate distortion of information used to 
justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq;
♣	the removal of public information from U.S. depository libraries; and
♣	heightened assaults on constitutional rights under the guise of 
“national security”; therefore be it

Resolved that the American Library Association go on record as being 
opposed to the use by government of disinformation, media manipulation, 
the destruction and excision of public information, and other such 
tactics.

Resolved that the ALA encourages its members to teach and nurture 21st 
century information literacy skills among the American public to help 
them detect disinformation, media manipulation, and missing 
information.

Resolved that ALA encourages libraries to actively seek and acquire 
alternative information resources that provide a broad context for 
public understanding and evaluation of news and opinion.

Resolved that this resolution be shared broadly with members of ALA, 
the press, the public and government officials.

Moved by Elaine Harger
Seconded by Peter McDonald

June 26, 2005


Supporting Documentation:

ALA policy references:
1.1	Mission, Priority Areas, Goals – Introduction
1.2	Mission
1.3	Priority Areas and Goals
52.4.1	The Rights of Library Users and the USA PATRIOT Act


Selected Bibliography on Disinformation

1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.  Washington DC: U.S. Congress.
1971 Pentagon Papers, by Neil Sheehan et al.  New York: New York Times
1975 Inside the Company: CIA Diary, by Philip Agee. London: Allen Lane
1978 Dirty Work: the CIA in western Europe, by Philip Agee, & Louis 
Wolf.  New York: Dorset Press
1982 The Real Terror Network: terrorism in fact and propaganda, by 
Edward S. Herman.  Boston: South End Press
1985 Storm Over Chile, by Samuel Chavkin.  New York: Dodd, Mead & 
Company
1988 Agents of Repression: the FBI’s secret wars against the Black 
Panther Party and the American Indian Movement, by Ward Churchill and 
Jim Vander Wall.  Boston: South End Press
1989 The “Terrorism” Industry: the experts and institutions that shape 
our view of terror, by Edward S. Herman and Gerry O’Sullivan.  New 
York: Pantheon.
1990 COINTELPRO Papers: documents from the FBI’s secret war against 
dissent in the United States, by Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall.  
Boston: South End Press
1997 Warriors of Disinformation, by Alvin Snyder.  New York: Arcade 
Publishing.
1999 Cultural Cold War: the CIA and the world of arts and letters, by 
Frances Stonor Saunders.  New York: The New Press
1999 Psywar on Cuba : the declassified history of U.S. anti-Castro 
propaganda, edited by Jon Elliston.  Melbourne, Vic. & New York: Ocean 
Press
2002 Body of Secrets : anatomy of the ultra-secret National Security 
Agency : from the Cold War through the dawn of a new century, by James 
Bamford.  New York: Anchor Books
2003 Covert Action: the roots of terrorism, edited by Ellen Ray and 
William H. Schapp.  Melbourne: Ocean Press
2003 Abuse Your Illusions: the disinformation guide to media mirages 
and establishment lies, edited by Russ Kick.  New York: Disinformation 
Co.
2004 Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins.  San 
Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
2004 Inside the Pentagon Papers, by John Prados and Margaret Pratt 
Porter.  Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
2005 The Chavez Code: deciphering the intervention of the United States 
in Venezuela, by Eva Golinger. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales



Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
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