---
category: Private Organization
location: New York City, USA
start: 1933
summary: Newsweek was a major American news magazine that covered the Dark Alliance
  story, calling it a powerful series.
tags:
- organization
- media
- contra-war
---

Newsweek was a major American news magazine that covered the [Dark Alliance](/events/dark-alliance/) story. The magazine was also connected to the Contra war's origins: according to one account, [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) director [William J. Casey](/people/william-j-casey/) himself leaked news of the Contra project to Newsweek to ensure it could not be abandoned.[^1]

### Casey's Leak

According to reports, Casey wanted to ensure that the Contra project did not get shelved. Once it became public knowledge that the Reagan administration was helping the [Contras](/organizations/contras/), Casey reasoned, stopping it would look like a sellout, another [Bay of Pigs](/events/bay-of-pigs/). The deliberate leak to Newsweek illustrated how the CIA used the media to build political support for its covert operations and to box in congressional opponents.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6.