Click here for the email
(Acrobat format | 64 pages | 5.2 meg)

Email messages exchanged between a public affairs officer at the actual NCIS and a writer-producer of the show "NCIS"

>>> Though the fact isn't widely known, the entertainment industry and the government often work closely with each other. Each branch of the military - as well as other components of the government, including the CIA - has an entertainment liaison office that gives TV and movie producers access to military facilities, equipment, and personnel. In return for saving the studios millions of dollars, of course, the military requires portrayals that are extremely flattering and accurate (in its view). [read more]

One product of the military-entertainment complex is the CBS drama "NCIS," a "JAG" spin-off based on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Paul O'Donnell, a public affairs officer at the real NCIS, worked hand-in-hand with Don McGill, a cocreator, coproducer, and cowriter of the show. (McGill's name is redacted in the documents, but clues in the email reveal it to be him.)

Under the Freedom of Information Act, frequent Memory Hole contributor Michael Ravnitzky asked the Navy's entertainment liaison for email between the NCIS and "NCIS" series staff. The messages comprising text have been scanned and put into an Acrobat document (first link, above). Many emails included attachments of photos showing various aspects of the actual NCIS - agents, offices, labs, interrogation rooms, weapons, vehicles, forensic equipment, and a visit by actress Pauley Perrette, who plays Abby Sciuto on the show. Instead of simply sending these JPEG files on disk, which could easily be placed online, the NCIS sent the photos as low-resolution printouts, which were scanned and posted as a gallery (second link, above).

Links

Naval Criminal Investigative Service | Multiple Threat Alert Center at NCIS

"NCIS" (CBS site) | "NCIS" (Paramount site) | "NCIS" IMDB entry

"Hollywood: The Propaganda Machine" | "Operation Hollywood"

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