Project Censored Exposed - University research on Independent Journalism and censored news

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 01/10/2005 - 00:49.

Sonoma State University hosts a media research group called "Project Censored", with the mission to educate people about the role of independent journalism in a democratic society and to tell The News That Didn't Make the News and why. Project Censored "tracks the news published in independent journals
and newsletters. From these, Project Censored compiles an annual list of 25
news stories of social significance that have been overlooked, under-reported
or self-censored by the country’s major national news media".
Project Censored is part of the open source knowledge building community that includes independent journalism, and REALNEO, that is transforming society world-wide, for the better. Read on for links to Sonoma State University's list of top 25 censored news stories of last year, as we work for an inclusive 2005.

 

Tribe Alert: Indymedia

From:
Plant Trees
Title: Most Censored Stories for 2004

Most Censored Stories for 2004

#1: Wealth Inequality in 21st Century Threatens Economy and Democracy(...)
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/1.html

#2: Ashcroft vs. the Human Rights Law that Holds Corporations Accountable (...)

www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/2.html

#3: Bush Administration Censors Science (...)
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/3.html

#4: High Levels of Uranium Found in Troops and Civilians (...)
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/4.html

#5: The Wholesale Giveaway of Our Natural Resources
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/5.html

#6: The Sale of Electoral Politics
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/6.html

#7: Conservative Organization Drives Judicial Appointments
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/7.html

#8: Cheney's Energy Task Force and The Energy Policy
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/8.html

#9: Widow Brings RICO Case Against U.S. government for 9/11
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/9.html

#10: New Nuke Plants: Taxpayers Support, Industry Profits
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/10.html

#11: The Media Can Legally Lie
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/11.html

#12: The Destabilization of Haiti
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/12.html

#13: Schwarzenegger Met with Enron's Ken Lay Years Before the California Recall

www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/13.html

#14: New Bill Threatens Intellectual Freedom in Area Studies
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/14.html

#15: U.S. Develops Lethal New Viruses
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/15.html

#16: Law Enforcement Agencies Spy on Innocent Citizens
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/16.html

#17: U.S. Government Represses Labor Unions in Iraq in Quest for
Business Privatization
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/17.html

#18: Media and Government Ignore Dwindling Oil Supplies
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/18.html

#19: Global Food Cartel Fast Becoming the World's Supermarket
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/19.html

#20: Extreme Weather Prompts New Warning from UN
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/20.html

#21: Forcing a World Market for GMOs
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/21.html

#22: Censoring Iraq
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/22.html

#23: Brazil Holds Back in FTAA Talks, But Provides Little Comfort for
the Poor of South America
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/23.html

#24: Reinstating the Draft
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/24.html

#25: Wal-Mart Brings Inequality and Low Prices to the World
www.projectcensored.org/public...ns/2005/25.html

Peter Phillips Ph.D.
Sociology Department/Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-664-2588

www.projectcensored.org/

Project Censored
Exposed

The Mission of
Project Censored is to educate people about the role of independent journalism
in a democratic society and to tell The News That Didn't Make the News and why.

Project Censored is a media
research group out of Sonoma State University which tracks the news published
in independent journals and newsletters. From these, Project Censored compiles
an annual list of 25 news stories of social significance that have been overlooked,
under-reported or self-censored by the country’s major national news media.

Between 700 and 1000 stories are
submitted to Project Censored each year from journalists, scholars, librarians,
and concerned citizens around the world. With the help of more than 200 Sonoma State University
faculty, students, and community members, Project Censored reviews the story
submissions for coverage, content, reliability of sources and national
significance. The university community selects 25 stories to submit to the
Project Censored panel of judges who then rank them in order of importance.
Current or previous national judges include: Noam Chomsky, Susan Faludi, George
Gerbner, Sut Jhally, Frances Moore Lappe, Norman Solomon, Michael Parenti,
Herbert I. Schiller, Barbara Seaman, Erna Smith, Mike Wallace and Howard Zinn.
All 25 stories are featured in the yearbook, Censored: The
News That Didn’t Make the News.

In 1996 and 1997, the yearbook
won the Firecracker Alternative Book Award, celebrating the best in alternative
publishing. The release of Project Censored’s yearbook has developed into a
national alternative press event. In 2003, along with several independent
national magazines, over 40 alternative newsweeklies carried the Top 10
Censored stories in metropolitan areas throughout the country, and Project
Censored was featured on more than 125 independent talk radio and television
shows. Throughout the next year and into the next decade, Project Censored will
continue to inform the public, advocate for independent journalism, and strive
to spark debate on current issues involving media monopoly.

Project Censored is
a national research effort launched in 1976 by Dr. Carl Jensen, professor
emeritus of Communications Studies at Sonoma State University. Upon Jensen’s
retirement in 1996, leadership of the project was passed to associate professor
of sociology and media research specialist, Dr. Peter Phillips.