It’s hard for me to know when I am stating the obvious. But it just occurred to me to comment that if the CIA is paying journalists to push specific points of view, that is, in my understanding, completely illegal. They are not allowed to operate domestically.
All the agents–the journalists–all their handlers, and everyone connected to such operations could be arrested and put in jail for a long time.
If I am correct, then this SHOULD be done. There is no need for the world to lose its mind. We simply have to deduct the propaganda, which becomes all the more egregious when originating from within.
I would add that it should be illegal for foreign nations to buy covert influence too, China specifically.