Image Cheapening

"Image Cheapening" is a strategy employed by the United States FBI to undermine the credibility or reputation of individuals, groups, or governments through various means such as propaganda, disinformation, or covert operations. This tactic aims to diminish the perceived legitimacy or authority of the target. Examples include the dissemination of false rumors, planting fabricated stories in media outlets, or orchestrating public scandals to tarnish the image of the target.

Examples

Letter sent to Martin Luther King Jr. urging him to commit suicide.

April 27, 1970: FBI requests permission from its Director, J. Edgar Hoover, to cheapen the image of Jean Seberg.

Some notable examples of U.S. citizens who were targeted by the FBI using Image Cheapening include:

• Martin Luther King Jr.: The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover conducted a covert campaign to discredit and undermine Martin Luther King Jr. This included wiretapping his phones, surveillance, and spreading damaging information about him to the media in an effort to portray him in a negative light.
• Jean Seberg: The FBI's COINTELPRO program targeted Jean Seberg, an American actress and civil rights activist, in the late 1960s due to her support for civil rights and involvement with the Black Panther Party. The FBI launched a smear campaign against Seberg, aimed at discrediting her and damaging her reputation. This included spreading false rumors and planting fabricated stories in the media to portray her as a supporter of radical groups and engage in promiscuous behavior. One particularly egregious tactic involved circulating a false rumor that Seberg's unborn child, fathered by her husband Romain Gary, was actually fathered by a Black Panther member. This malicious rumor was intended to scandalize Seberg and create personal and professional turmoil in her life. The FBI's campaign against Seberg had severe consequences for her mental health and well-being, contributing to her suffering from depression and anxiety. Tragically, Seberg died by suicide in 1979, and while her struggles were multifaceted, the relentless harassment and character assassination by the FBI undoubtedly played a role in her tragic demise.
• John Lennon: The FBI conducted surveillance on John Lennon due to his anti-war activism during the Vietnam War. The agency attempted to deport Lennon by using his past drug charges as leverage, with the intention of silencing his political activism.

See Also

• Abomination Ratio
• Baby-on-Cobalt
• Break-Glass-in-case-of-Emergency People
• Church Committee
• Communication Security Complex
• Deaths of Accountability
• Digital Wet-work
• Fact Burning
• Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD)
• Follow the Silence
• Information Asymmetry
• Kayfabrication
• No-Living-Heroes Theory
• Regulated Expression
• Seberging
• Steady Hands
• The United States of Absolutely Nothing (U.S.A.N.)
• Tuskegee Principle
• Universal Institutional Betrayal

References

• Column: How the FBI and the Los Angeles Times destroyed a young actress’ life 50 years ago