Propagation and Secrecy--An Introduction to Intelligence Journalism

Author: Zhao Zhenxiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Intelligence and news are inherently contradictory—intelligence must be confidential, while news must be public. Since the beginning of human communication, the conflict between communication and countercommunication, as well as between news dissemination and information secrecy, has existed. However, intelligence and news are often two sides of the same coin. A piece of intelligence may possess both intelligence value and news value, and a news item may also hold both. Because intelligence and news values coexist, there is a close yet intricate relationship between news value and intelligence value, news sources and intelligence sources, news gathering and intelligence collection, and news reporting and intelligence confidentiality management. Based on this close relationship between news and intelligence, this book explores the issues of communication and secrecy involving intelligence and news from both the fields of journalism and communication studies and intelligence studies, and introduces the concept of "intelligence news." Innovation is not for the sake of being different, and a limited perspective may still offer insightful views. Through the writing of this small book, we hope to raise some noteworthy and discussable questions in the areas of news communication and secrecy.