Regarding "Fake News"

I find this very concerning:

Congressional negotiators on Wednesday approved an initiative to track and combat foreign propaganda amid growing concerns that Russian efforts to spread “fake news” and disinformation threaten U.S. national security.

The measure, part of the National Defense Authorization Act approved by a conference committee, calls on the State Department to lead governmentwide efforts to identify propaganda and counter its effects. The authorization is for $160 million over two years.

[...]

The initiative grows out of a bill authored in March by Portman and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called the “Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act.” It initially sprang from a desire to help independent journalists and nongovernmental organizations in European nations such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, which face a heavy tide of Russian propaganda.

  Washington Post

Perhaps we can have a ministry of propaganda. An official one, that is. Not the one we have in the mainstream media.  That should suit Donald Trump very well.

The measure also would create a grant program to help foster civil society and independent journalism in countries targeted with propaganda campaigns by Russia and other foreign powers, including China.

I'm pretty sure we already have a network doing that which includes USAID. So what's the deal with this "new" effort?

The measure approved Wednesday is aimed at foreign information sources, not ones based in the United States.

Sure.  The same was said of the NSA's spying operations.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.