The media isn’t independent. It never was.

Consider this:

If the government could control what people believe, would that be more powerful than controlling what they do? 

In other words, could they make people believe they were free and informed—and therefore make them comfortable and complacent—if they could simply control the way people viewed the world and their place in it?

The CIA certainly thought so when they launched Operation Mockingbird—a secret program in the 1950s where journalists and media outlets were paid to push narratives that secretly served the interests of the US government.

That’s right. For decades, Americans unknowingly consumed state-sponsored propaganda, all while believing they were getting real, independent news.

Finally, in 1977, a journalist named Carl Bernstein exposed the whole scheme. 

His Rolling Stone exposé revealed that major media figures had been working directly with the CIA as the unofficial communications arm of the government.

Busted.

Naturally, the agency scrambled into damage control. 

Newly appointed CIA director (and future president) George H.W. Bush put on his “oopsie, we made a mistake” face, and pinky-promised that the government would never again enter into “paid or contractual relationships” with US journalists.

Insanely, most people seem to have believed him. 

But the dirty truth has a way of coming out eventually, and this week we’ve learned that USAID (which by the way does not stand for US Aid, but actually stands for United States Agency for International Development) has secretly funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to media outlets like POLITICO and the Associated Press.

Why would they do that?

Well, it looks like the official story is that it was to “support independent journalism.”

That makes perfect sense, of course. Afterall, the government has a long and shining reputation for being very concerned that the average American has unfettered access to the work of journalists who just want to tell the truth. 

Just ask Glenn Greenwald.

Ha.

What’s actually happened is that, like most other so-called-conspiracies, Operation Mockingbird never went away—it just went deeper underground. 

The people in power learned a long time ago, and still perfectly understand, that controlling the press means controlling public perception. 

And controlling public perception means controlling you.

It’s why we do what we do at The Tuttle Twins.

Our books pull back the curtain on the methods of those who have always used their power to control others. They help kids (and adults!) recognize how the media, government, and powerful special interests work together to manipulate information and shape the world in their image. 

We teach the next generation to think critically—to ask why they’re being told something, who benefits, and what’s being left out.

We literally wrote a whole book just about all of the evil and corrupt things that the government has been caught doing.

The Tuttle Twins Guide to True Conspiracies  breaks down real government plots—like Operation Mockingbird—so families can learn the history of manipulation, and how to spot schemes as they begin to play out in real time.

The truth is, if we don’t teach our kids to question the narrative, there are a whole lot of powerful people who will use every resource at their disposal to make sure they never do.

Right now, you can use code LOVE at checkout to get an extra discount on our already discounted book bundles. 

That means the lowest prices of the year on all of our best books—including True Conspiracies!

I suspect you’re with me when I say that I respect my kids too much to let them fall for the same old tricks that have kept generations of good people locked into a matrix meant to keep them from being free.

I know that parents like you, using resources like ours, are going to raise a generation of people who will change the world. 

I can’t wait to see it.

—Connor