There is another problem with the revolving door: once former national-security officials become media personalities, their institutional relationships can become a permanent source of influence.

Carpenter cites Jack Shafer’s observation that the modern intelligence retiree can move directly from government service into a lucrative public career.

The formula is straightforward.

Spend decades inside the CIA, NSA, FBI, DHS or another security agency.

Retire.

Appear on television as an expert.

Use the credibility acquired inside government to comment on current affairs.

The audience sees experience.

The network sees ratings and authority.

The former official gets a second career.

But the institutions from which that person came also benefit from having sympathetic voices embedded throughout the media environment.

That is the concern Carpenter raises.

The problem does not require an explicit conspiracy or direct orders from former colleagues.

Institutional culture can survive personnel changes.

A person who spent decades defending an agency may continue to instinctively interpret events through that agency’s worldview.

That is especially relevant when the subject is controversial: wars, intelligence failures, military budgets, surveillance, terrorism or foreign intervention.

A commentator does not have to be deliberately lying to produce biased coverage.

They only have to carry the assumptions of the institution that shaped their career.

And if the audience is not told about those assumptions, it may mistake institutional perspective for independent analysis.

@americanmajority