CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
abc.net.au
CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
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Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#2https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46891794
Discussed a few days ago as well
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#3Feels very short sighted, the Factbook is a great example of low cost soft power.
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#4Feels very short sighted, the Factbook is a great example of low cost soft power.
What is this soft power and what can the US do with it?
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#5Feels very short sighted, the Factbook is a great example of low cost soft power.
I remember this from literally 20 years ago.
Maybe the traffic made it not worth the cost?
And 'soft power'? Like lying about stats and using it for propaganda? Otherwise its just objective and someone else can do the work. For some reason I never attributed it to the US or CIA.
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#6Feels very short sighted, the Factbook is a great example of low cost soft power.
What is this soft power and what can the US do with it?
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#7Feels very short sighted, the Factbook is a great example of low cost soft power.
I remember this from literally 20 years ago. Maybe the traffic made it not worth the cost? And 'soft power'? Like lying about stats and using it for propaganda? Otherwise its just objective and someone else can do the work. For some reason I never attributed it to the US or CIA.
You can make propaganda without lying, by choosing what metrics you value over others for example, by adding them or omitting them or implying whether a stat increasing is positive or negative.
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#8Feels very short sighted, the Factbook is a great example of low cost soft power.
I remember this from literally 20 years ago. Maybe the traffic made it not worth the cost? And 'soft power'? Like lying about stats and using it for propaganda? Otherwise its just objective and someone else can do the work. For some reason I never attributed it to the US or CIA.
“Soft power” refers usually to credibility. The point of the Factbook is to be a credible public resource for an entity that would otherwise not have much.
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#9The Factbook dates from a time when this was the most convenient source of updated concise summaries of all countries. It didn’t necessarily go into great detail except for countries important to the US national interest.
This has been eclipsed by Wikipedia, the information there is far more comprehensive and govt officials will go there to make updates and corrections.
Re: CIA to Sunset the World Factbook
#10An outdated service that belongs to the era of encyclopedia. Wikipedia moved us past it. ChatGPT has moved us so far past it, it's become a relic.