The modern landscape of journalism is no longer a pursuit of truth—it’s a theater of illusion. Corporate conglomerates and partisan power brokers have hijacked the press, weaponizing it into a platform for propaganda. What once stood as the Fourth Estate now functions as the Fifth Column.
A new paradigm of investigative reporting must replace this hollowed husk of dead journalism by rooting itself in structured intelligence methodology, where exhaustive evidence gathering, empirical verification, and ethical discipline form the core.
Here is the foundation for that paradigm: the principles, process, and mindset every Citizen Intel Investigator must adopt to thrive in a battlefield defined by deception and information warfare.
Unlike legacy journalism, which bows to editorial gatekeepers and corporate appeasement, Citizen Intel operates on field-verified precision and tactical tradecraft. Sure, speak your mind when you comment or repost—you are entitled to an opinion even when unsubstantiated. But when writing a report to be published, your mission is to uncover, document, and disseminate only what can be corroborated, cross-verified, and weaponized for truth.
Truth.
What more do you need?
You’re not here for corporate salaries, stock options, or fancy dinners.
You’re here for the forsaken truth.
But righteous intent is not enough. You need the tools—the logic, the rigor, and the discipline—to extract that truth from deep beneath every pile of puffed-up propaganda.
At the core of this approach is objectivity over ideology. I know it can be difficult, but each investigation must begin with a clear, fact-driven mindset. An Investigator must actively identify any preconceived notions or beliefs and remove them from the process. Presuppositions must be identified and uprooted. Objectivity becomes the necessary lens for examining evidence and constructing fact patterns—allowing only the truth to prevail. Isn’t that what you truly seek? Truth—the unfolding of the great mystery. We live, we die, and we live again. Don’t you want to know why? It’s the question that drives the deepest and most expansive thinkers. Treat your drive for truth as the primary purpose of your existence. After all, there is no greater mystery than what happens at the crossover.
Equally important is empirical verification. In the world of Citizen Intel, no claim can be accepted as truth without robust evidence to back it up. Claims are cross-referenced against multiple independent sources, ensuring the information has been proved through distinct, reliable channels. Only when something can be independently confirmed does it earn the status of becoming a provable fact.
Counterintelligence awareness is the next critical layer in the investigative process. In a world rife with disinformation campaigns, endless paltering, controlled-opposition astroturfing, and covert psychological operations, the Investigator must remain highly vigilant. Recognizing these tactics is essential to avoid falling into traps and to protect the investigation from being derailed by false narratives or manipulative agendas.
The mainstay of Citizen Intel is the PCPAD process—a structured process for intelligence-driven investigations. It begins with (P)lanning, where objectives are defined and strategies are mapped. Next is (C)ollection, during which raw data is gathered from multiple sources. That data moves into (P)rocessing, where it’s transformed by removing unreliable data and establishing patterns of fact. In the (A)nalysis phase, those patterns are distilled into actionable intelligence. Finally comes (D)issemination, ensuring your findings reach the target audience clearly and effectively.
Last of all, yet absolutely paramount, is Operational Security (OPSEC). In the high-stakes world of intelligence gathering, source vetting, data integrity, and investigative confidentiality, you must be guarded at all costs. Without strict OPSEC, the operation risks exposure—jeopardizing both the investigation and the individuals involved. You’re playing with the big players now. When you shine a spotlight on corrupt political leaders or corporate executives, you must sharpen your defenses first—harden your OPSEC—and then prepare your counterstrikes.
In spirit, the Citizen Intel Investigator is an agent of truth. They navigate the complex web of information with precision by carefully gathering, parsing, and analyzing data. Their commitment to impartiality during the research phase preserves the integrity of the investigation. The Investigator’s focus must always be aligned with uncovering what lies beneath the surface, no matter how deep the layers may go or how disturbing the results may be.
For instance, a researcher investigating the Epstein Files must remain steadfast in their pursuit of truth, knowing they will encounter deeply disturbing content—graphic accounts of abuse, exploitation, anthropophagy, back-channel influence, financial secrecy, and elite impunity. Yet, despite this, Investigators must remain focused and emotionally resilient when uncovering the full scope of the network and its enablers.
Traditional journalism operates within a framework that assumes public trust in institutions. However, Citizen Intel operates under the opposite assumption whereby institutions are most likely compromised, requiring a standard practice of rigorous independent verification. To meet this standard, investigative efforts must integrate intelligence methodologies designed to counter deception at every level—it is for this very reason that Citizen Intel leverages the PCPAD process. This isn’t some abstract military theory scraped from a weapons officer’s white paper out of Nellis Air Force Base. The PCPAD cycle is the five-phase process that powers military intelligence.
Planning: Define your mission. List your objectives. Map your timeline. Identify the players—your targets, your allies, and the terrain you’ll be operating in. Every investigation starts here. Without planning, you’re chasing smoke and shadows.
Collection: Cast your net wide, but stay legal. OSINT, HUMINT, SIGINT, MASINT, IMINT—each has its place. You don’t need a badge to gather world-class intel, but you do need discipline. One slip into illicit sourcing and your credibility burns before your evidence even sees daylight. Study the intelligence disciplines—the INTs for short—and determine which disciplines best match the objectives identified in your planning phase.
Processing: Data is dirty by default. Clean it up. Authenticate your sources. Cross-verify your findings. Quarantine anything compromised and eliminate ambiguity. Misinformation doesn’t always arrive with flashing red flags—sometimes it hides in outdated records or manipulated metadata. Processing is where you separate signal from static noise. It’s your filtration layer—the line between facts and bullshit.
Analysis: This is where you earn the title belt. You have the facts, now find the pattern. Map the facts on the timeline. This is your fact pattern. Now look for key insights in that pattern. You’re not throwing facts at a wall hoping something sticks. You’re drafting an indictment, building a trail of evidence, and assembling a narrative that leads your readers to the same hard-hitting conclusions you’ve reached. You may have heard some military instructor or college professor say, “You can’t teach analysis—you’ve just got to figure it out as you go.” That’s hogwash. I’ll teach you how to conduct analysis later in this doctrinal fieldguide.
Dissemination: This is where you deploy. Strategically release your findings through independent platforms, internet archives, or trusted media sites—whatever gets maximum exposure with minimum risk. Truth doesn’t walk itself to the finish line. You must choose the right release vector and time it like a precision strike. One well-timed intel drop can rattle entire networks when it’s delivered with precision timing.
The PCPAD cycle is not a suggestion—it’s standard operating procedure for every Citizen Intel Investigator. Treat it like your breathing pattern. You must let it flow through the spine of this entire process. Respect it, and it will protect you. Ignore it, and you’ll be just another loud voice with no staying power—and your great victory lap will be over before your fifteen minutes even begin.
After the dissemination phase of the PCPAD cycle, expect incredible resistance from those most adversarial to the release of your findings.
One of the greatest threats to any independent investigation isn’t just censorship or slander—it’s the omnipresence of disinformation and controlled opposition, embedded in both legacy media and so-called alternative outlets. It’s not the obvious lies that get you. It’s the big media stories dressed up in 80% truth. It’s the partisan blogs and performative podcasts wrapped in patriotism, social justice, or relentless moral outrage. All of it engineered to feel righteous—while subtly redirecting your aim.
Here, you must learn to see behind the curtain.
To counter this, every Citizen Intel Investigator must be capable of detecting and dismantling psychological operations (PSYOPs)—whether backed by intelligence agencies or corporate interests. These are the crown jewels of information warfare—crafted not to inform, but to disorient, divide, and dominate public perception.
There are several clear indicators that an Investigator can use to spot these disinformation campaigns. One of the most prominent is narrative synchronization, a tactic where multiple media outlets simultaneously disseminate identical stories with similarly scripted wording and phrasing. This synchronization is usually a signal that an information influence operation is in play, with the goal of shaping public perception by creating a consistent narrative across major platforms.
A notable real-world example was documented during the “COVID-19 pandemic” when a widely circulated viral video emerged, compiling footage from dozens of local news stations across the United States. In this powerful visual demonstration, anchors from disparate networks recited verbatim the exact same script, emphasizing a message that certain alternative viewpoints were “a danger to our democracy.” Such blatant synchronization—when media entities across geographical and political spectrums converge on a singular, scripted narrative—is a hallmark of coordinated intelligence operations intended to uniformly shape public perception. Recognizing this synchronized messaging enables the Investigator to trace narratives back to their roots and expose the hidden machinery driving public discourse.
You may ask yourself, here and now: “Should I really be trying to expose an intelligence-backed influence operation? Isn’t that treasonous?”
No! Not when government officials and agency brass have been compromised by foreign intelligence networks and international corporate cartels. This is no longer the American government the Founders envisioned. Many aspects of American governance have been hijacked from within and now operate—overtly and unapologetically—under the influence of hostile forces both foreign and domestic.
The Founders themselves explicitly articulated that citizens possess both the right and the duty to oppose and dismantle any government that becomes tyrannical, oppressive, or destructive toward the original intent of Constitutional principles. As clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence, whenever a government engages in “a long train of abuses and usurpations” that reveal an intent to subjugate the People under absolute despotism or foreign domination, it is not only the People’s right but indeed their solemn duty to oppose such tyranny and establish new safeguards for their future security.
Your job is to first prove that “long train of abuses and usurpations” have occurred, and to do this the right way takes more than opinion, it takes concrete evidence and poetic articulation detailing that evidence.
While the U.S. Constitution itself does not explicitly enumerate conditions permitting rebellion, it inherently affirms that legitimate governmental authority derives exclusively from the consent and representation of the People. Article IV, Section 4 mandates that the United States guarantee to every state a republican form of democracy, implicitly condemning any governance influenced, directed, or controlled by foreign powers as constitutionally illegitimate. Consequently, when the federal government is compromised or hijacked by external entities, it would effectively dissolve and forfeit its constitutional legitimacy and cease to function as the lawful representative of the People.
One can argue that we are presently living under such an illegitimate regime, at least since the end of WW2.
In such a scenario, actions undertaken by citizens to resist and dismantle foreign subversion would not constitute rebellion against legitimate authority. Rather, it would be viewed as a constitutionally justified defense to restore the government to its intended original form.
With that emphatically stated, when you expose influence operations or unconstitutional conduct by compromised government entities, you are not committing treason—it is a constitutionally permitted defense based on the core principles upon which America was founded, and a reaffirmation of the inherent sovereignty of the People over any corrupt or compromised institution.
So have no fear when exposing state-sponsored influence operations—especially when they take the form of narrative synchronization or any of the following tactics.
Another indicator is astroturfing and controlled opposition, where so-called grassroots movements are revealed to be fabricated, often backed by hidden or suspicious funding sources. These movements may seem like genuine public opinion, but they are actually carefully constructed to steer the conversation in a predetermined direction.
A clear example of astroturfing and controlled opposition emerged during the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots—sarcastically dubbed the “Summer of Love.” While BLM initially presented itself as a grassroots movement advocating social justice and police reform, deeper investigation revealed substantial financial backing from multinational corporations, high-profile NGOs, major donors, and various government-affiliated entities—both domestic and foreign. The Democratic Party and its prominent figures openly aligned with the movement, leveraging its influence in the politically volatile lead-up to the 2020 presidential election during the height of Covid-19.
Despite that backing, BLM leadership came under heavy scrutiny for financial improprieties, questionable allocation of donations, and extravagant personal expenditures. Investigations revealed that significant portions of donated funds were diverted toward luxury real estate purchases and personal enrichment—rather than supporting the communities the movement claimed to represent. These revelations reinforced growing suspicion that BLM functioned less as a grassroots force and more as a high-level financial hustle wrapped in activist branding.
Meanwhile, many of the so-called protests spiraled into full-scale riots. Looting, arson, physical assaults, and spikes in violent crime—including murders and sexual assaults—swept across cities like Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, and Kenosha. The result: widespread destabilization, millions in property damage, and a massive taxpayer burden from emergency response, infrastructure repair, and rebuilding efforts.
Worse still, these events were frequently coordinated with ANTIFA—an openly Marxist-anarchist movement with ideological roots tracing back to pre-WW2 Weimar-era Germany. The combined presence of BLM and ANTIFA intensified chaos, amplified racial division (often with overt anti-White hostility), and deepened sociopolitical polarization nationwide.
In sum, the 2020 BLM-ANTIFA unrest was not a spontaneous outcry—it was a coordinated, well-funded campaign—and its influence continues onward without cessation. These events serve as a perfect case study in how astroturfed movements can be weaponized to destabilize sociopolitical environments, fracture socioeconomic cohesion, and divert massive funding under the guise of social justice and police reform.
Maybe you’re saying to yourself: “But, George Floyd was an innocent law-abiding citizen whose life was taken by those wicked cops that day, and the riots were a justified outcry of police abuses!”
George Floyd is not a martyr. Yes, his death in police custody in 2020 sparked mass civil unrest, but the full context of his background is often omitted—another hallmark of controlling opposition via astroturfing an event such as his death. Between 1997 and 2007, Floyd had a documented criminal record involving multiple drug offenses and theft—typically resulting in short-term jail sentences that reflected a pattern of repeat criminal behavior.
Most notably, in 2007, Floyd was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. According to court records, he impersonated a utility worker to gain entry into a home, where he held a firearm to a woman’s abdomen while demanding whatever valuables she had in the house. He was sentenced to five years in prison and paroled in 2013 after serving several years.
Even more damning, the official Hennepin County autopsy found that George Floyd had multiple hard drugs in his system at the time of death—including high levels of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and morphine. While the official cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest complicated by police restraint, the drugs were listed as contributing factors. The toxicology report became a legal and media flashpoint, raising questions about respiratory impairment during the encounter. These findings strongly indicate continued hard drug use well beyond Floyd’s 2013 parole.
While these facts do not negate the controversy surrounding the circumstances of his death, they are relevant for those committed to full-spectrum analysis. This data is not peripheral—it’s essential to forming a fact-based assessment where emotions and partisan leanings are cut-away and only the truth is sought.
And when the truth begins to cut through the engineered narrative, the counterattacks arrive—not through evidence, but through libelous epithets hurled at the truth-teller.
Accordingly, character assassination and narrative control are powerful tactics used in operations to discredit the truth-teller. Rather than countering arguments with evidence or logic, attacks are often made on the credibility of those presenting the facts. This tactic distracts from the substance of the argument and shifts focus to discrediting the messenger.
An authoritative historical case can be seen in the life and work of Ida Tarbell. She was one of America’s earliest and most formidable investigative journalists, belonging to a group of reporters known in America at the time as muckrakers. In the early 20th century, Tarbell published a groundbreaking exposé of the Standard Oil Company, detailing its monopolistic abuses and unethical business tactics. Her investigation directly contributed to the company’s eventual breakup under the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1911.
Rather than challenge her findings with evidence, Standard Oil’s defenders—along with John D. Rockefeller’s loyalists—launched personal attacks to discredit her. As one of the few high-profile female reporters of her era, Tarbell was targeted with sexist smears, portrayed as emotionally unhinged, spiteful, or too unsophisticated to grasp complex economics.
This is classic narrative warfare: discredit the messenger when you can’t refute the message. Her opponents reframed her meticulous work as bias-driven or bitter, deflecting attention from the documented corruption she exposed. But Tarbell held the line—armed with rigor, restraint, and facts—demonstrating that investigative integrity can outlast even the most aggressive narrative suppression tactics from one of the wealthiest corporate cartels at the time.
Her legacy stands as a case study in independent journalism under fire—and a reminder that when truth threatens elite power, the response isn’t rebuttal, it’s narrative warfare. When they can’t refute the facts, they inflame the emotions.
For this reason, emotionally charged polarization is one of the most effective weapons in the arsenal of narrative warfare. It divides populations into binary ideological camps—left versus right, red versus blue, us versus them. These stories are designed not to inform, but to provoke—stoking division, inflaming identity, and deepening ideological rifts. Once emotionally triggered, the public becomes easier to corral, influence, and pacify through outrage cycles.
Yet, “nothing ever happens” to resolve it in either direction.
Rather than joining the noise, the Investigator must stand upon the entire spectrum—sifting through ideology and propaganda to isolate the truth.
You must discipline the mind, calm the emotions, and triangulate the truth. That’s how you dissolve engineered disunion.
Because a society fragmented by rage is easy to rule. But a population grounded in reason is far harder to deceive.
You are not here to pick sides. You are here to expose who engineered the sides in the first place.
And when the going gets tough in your investigation, and you feel your emotions begin to sway wildly, evoke these words spoken by Socrates:
“Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore, avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.”
This ancient truth spoken by Socrates should be etched into your heart, reminding you of the transient nature of the human condition and the importance of maintaining balance.
By recognizing these tactics and understanding the underlying operations, Citizen Intel Investigators begin peeling back the layers of disinformation—separating truth from the manipulation designed to distort public perception. As a first step, a skilled Investigator sees through the diversion and recognizes the propaganda deployed around any given issue. Mapping it back to its architects is the mission. Revealing the truth about the occultic operations employed by the ruling class is the end goal.
But you may be asking yourself: “How can little old me do anything meaningful all by my lonesome against these governmental leviathans and corporate behemoths?”
True enough! This is why you need to understand how to build a network and link together with other researchers. Eventually, the goal is to create a vast network—no, a vast armada—of Citizen Intel Investigators who will share their findings and work together toward the same end goal of revealing truth.
No operation succeeds in isolation.
Let the principles laid out here serve not only as theory, but as a mental loadout.
Meditate on them.
Apply them.
Trust them.