The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) has existed in one form or another since the Agency's inception in 1947.
The Director of OPA serves as spokesperson for the CIA. He reports to the Director of the CIA, providing public affairs support and acting as senior adviser for media and public policy issues. The current OPA Director is Mark Mansfield. He oversees the daily operations of communicating with the media, the general public, and CIA’s workforce.
The office is comprised of three divisions:
Sub-components include:
Media Relations
To provide the American people with accurate information about CIA, its mission, and our employees' contributions to national security, the Media Relations staff works daily with print and broadcast journalists. This Division's objective is to be as helpful and responsive to the media as possible, while protecting classified information, including intelligence sources and methods.
To accomplish this, the Media staff establishes professional relationships with print and broadcast reporters, responds to press inquiries, develops media strategies in advance of newsworthy events or announcements, prepares press releases, and provides background briefings for U.S. media. They also keep the Director and senior management informed of prospective and breaking news stories about CIA, including stories that could put Agency officers or operations at risk. They support the Director of CIA in media contacts by assisting in preparing for media interviews and providing accompaniment to interviews and public appearances.
Using Internet technology and CIA ’s public Web site, the Media Relations Division staff succeeded in making an unprecedented amount of unclassified information—including speeches, congressional testimony, and reports—quickly available to the media and the public. CIA ’s World Factbook, produced by the Directorate of Intelligence, is available on this Web site and is used extensively by the media, researchers, students, and the general public.
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Public Communications
OPA considers the American public our primary customers, and the public's thirst for knowledge about CIA is evident by the large volume of letters, phone calls, e-mails, and faxes the we receive each year. The Public Communications Branch (PCB) staff is responsible for responding to those public inquiries as promptly and responsively as security considerations allow. You may contact us by mail, phone, or fax during our normal 
business hours Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. US Eastern Standard Time. You can also contact us anytime by e-mail via our comment form.
As part of its outreach efforts, PCB provides briefings about CIA and its role in the Intelligence Community to groups from colleges, universities, civic organizations, other government agencies, and foreign affairs organizations. PCB receives so many requests that, due to staffing limitations, it must evaluate them on a case-by-case basis so as to reach as many diverse groups as possible.
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Internal Communications
Our greatest advantage is the men and women who comprise CIA. While many work in secrecy, it's imperative they can access timely news and information affecting their professional lives and working environment. Using different methods, the Internal Communications Branch (ICB) keeps the work force informed in the most immediate way possible.
ICB produces print and electronic format newsletters several times each week, so CIA employees know the latest workplace events and news. The branch is constantly developing and implementing new ways of delivering information using the latest technologies. For example, most employees can now watch in-house t.v. channels bringing live special events, announcements, international news, and training presentations via their computer screens. ICB works with other CIA offices, adding additional channels, providing more programming choices, and working so overseas employees might receive the same or similar programming.
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Community Relations
The CIA believes in maintaining strong community ties with local elected officials, law enforcement, public safety departments, and residents of the communities surrounding Agency facilities. OPA takes the lead in the Agency’s community outreach efforts.
Many Agency employees regularly volunteer to speak in local schools, judge at science fairs, and participate on a variety of educational outreach partnerships with local schools.
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Special Event & Guest Planning
OPA plans and conducts special events for CIA guests, including pre-event publicity, media coverage, and televised coverage for employees. Past events include the CIA’s 50th anniversary celebration in September 1997 and the ceremony commemorating the designation of Agency Headquarters compound as the George Bush Center for Intelligence in April 1999.
OPA collaborates with other CIA offices to welcome and accommodate the Agency’s guests.
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CIA Publications
CIA publishes many items which are publicly available.
PCB publishes CIA Today, a fact-filled brochure; Intelligence Literature; a suggested reading list; and CIA Maps and Publications Released to the Public, a comprehensive list of publicly available CIA items.
The Directorate of Intelligence (DI) produces the Agency’s most popular publication, The World Factbook. It contains thousands of statistics on most foreign countries. The DI also publishes Chiefs of State and Cabinet Ministers of Foreign Governments, listing current government officials for each nation, and a variety of different publications. Both are updated on-line frequently.
The Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) publishes books, such as CIA and the Vietnam Policymakers: Three Episodes 1962-1968; monographs, such as The Final Months of the War with Japan: Signals Intelligence, U.S. Invasion Planning and the A-Bomb Decision; and unclassified editions of the journal Studies in Intelligence. Many publications are available on this Web site, and can be subscribed to or purchased.
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Internet and Intranet Communications
OPA coordinates with many CIA offices represented on our World Wide Web site about policy, design, and content issues. The Office of Public Affairs hosts and manages CIA.gov and ensures information is posted as soon as possible after it becomes available.
The Internet communications managers coordinate with organizational area managers of the Web site, such as the Recruitment Center, the CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room, and others.
The Office of Public Affairs provides similar services for CIA’s intranet homepage area.
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