Operation Mockingbird is an alleged large-scale program of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that began in the early 1950s and attempted to manipulate news media for propaganda purposes. It funded student and cultural organizations and magazines as front organizations. CIA director William Colby testimony before the  Pike Committee. http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php

THE CIA AND THE MEDIA BY CARL BERNSTEIN