Conclusion

This conclusion argues that the end of the Year of Intelligence and the revelation of previous contacts between the press and the CIA altered the relationships of the press and the CIA that had existed before 1975–1976, helping accelerate preexisting trends. Advocates for and critics of the CIA were both disappointed by the Year of Intelligence’s outcome, and the divide between the two would grow increasingly partisan and continue over time. The conclusion also reflects on the importance of national and geopolitical circumstances in press-CIA relationships, determining that, though old relationships changed, an environment less critical than the post-Watergate 1970s, such as the one that emerged after the 9/11 terrorists attacks, could produce cooperative relationships once again. Finally, the conclusion argues that the Central Intelligence Agency has grown more sophisticated in its public relations approach, looking to film and television rather than print media to influence opinion.