Tuesday 15 July 2003

Media Leviathan, U.S. Intelligence Form Secret Cabal

A quiet gathering of the media’s top elites to discuss mergers, with a keynote address by the head of the CIA, escaped mention in the mainstream press.

Each year, at the posh ranch of investment banker Herbert Allen Jr., the world’s media elites meet to discuss strategy, possible mergers and editorial policy. It can only be called a media version of Bilderberg as government, corporate and media officials are meeting in secret, behind the usual wall of security.

As always, for all of these meetings that actually matter, leftist protests are strangely nonexistent, even though it is summertime and colleges are largely empty.

This year is a bit different, given that the key note speaker is none other than CIA Director George Tenet.

Tenet’s attendance has been likened to the “smoking gun” that researchers have been looking for, proving the institutional link between finance, media, government and business.

Like all meetings of this type, it is off limits to reporters, however ironic it might be for a media confab.

The world’s media, whose bosses are attending the gathering, have not bothered to mention the CIA connection this year, likely the first time the world’s premier intelligence gathering service has been invited to this media gathering.

One of the main issues this year is the buying up of French media giant Vivendi, currently run by Jean Bernard Levy (aka Jean Marie Fourtou, among other names), which controls Universal Studios, according to The New York Post.

Making bids are Edgar Bronfman, Jr. and Sumner Redstone.

Redstone also has made noises that he is interested in buying CNN.

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