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Project Censored 2008 Awarded Stories
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PROJECT CENSORED
Sonoma State University
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
(707) 664-2500
e-mail: censored @sonoma.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 5, 2007
Contact: Project Censored 707-664-2500
Project Censored Releases Censored 2008 and its pick of the 25 most
important under-covered news stories of 2006-07
Project Censored announces its selection of the Top Censored News
Stories of the 2006-2007 cycle. Each year since 1976, hundreds of
student researchers, faculty, and volunteer members come together to
select the most important news stories that were under-covered,
glossed over or ignored by the countrys major media outlets.
The 25 stories make up the first chapter of the Censored 2008
yearbook published by Seven Stories press. Following chapters provide
updates on previous stories, review the growth of grass roots Media
Democracy, the years Junk Food News, and Ten Signs of Hope that
corporate media ignored. Censored 2008 also offers real news about
internet freedom, images of the war, and the impact of Big Media on
children.
With an introduction by Dennis Loo and the political cartoon
commentary of John Jonik throughout, this years book covers some of
the most critical issues facing the American people today. The Top
25 stories focus on issues such as civil rights, politics, economics,
foreign policy, food and health, the environment, energy, domestic
policy, and the military.
Corporate media in the United States are interested primarily in
entertainment news to feed their bottom-line priorities, states
Peter Phillips, Director of the Project. Some of the most important
news stories that should reach the American public falls on the
cutting room floor to be replaced by sex-scandals and celebrity
updates.
The Sonoma State University research group is composed of over 200
faculty, students and community experts who review hundreds of story
submissions for coverage, content, reliability of sources and
national significance. The top 25 stories are submitted to a panel
of judges who then rank them in order of importance. Current and
former judges include Michael Parenti, Cynthia McKinney, Howard Zinn,
Noam Chomsky, and 20 other national journalists, scholars and writers.
Censored 2008, now available in bookstores nationwide, can also be
purchased on the projects website at www.projectcensored.org.
Project Censored will host the award winning authors of the Censored
2008 stories at the second annual Media Accountability Conference
October 26-27 at Sonoma State University. Conference Information on
line at: http://www.projectcensored.org/conference/07MAConf.htm
Censored 2008 was edited by Peter Phillips and Andrew Roth professors
of Sociology at Sonoma State University.
For on-air interviews contact publicist interns:
Margo Tyack: ty...@sonoma.edu
Gabrielle Robinson: Gabrielle...@hotmail.com
A statement on contemporary censorship in the US written by Peter
Phillips follows below:
Top Censored Stories of 2006-2007
#1 No Habeas Corpus for Any Person
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) ushered in military
commission law for US citizens and non-citizens alike. Text in the
MCA allows for the institution of a military alternative to the
constitutional justice system for any person arbitrarily deemed to
be an enemy of the state, regardless of American citizenship.
Who Is 'Any Person' in Tribunal Law? Robert Parry, Consortium,
10/19/2006
http://consortiumnews.com/2006/101906.html
Still No Habeas Rights for You Robert Parry, Consortium, 2/3/2007
http://consortiumnews.com/2007/020307.html
Repeal the Military Commissions Act and Restore the Most American
Human Right Thom Hartmann, Commondreams, 2/12/2007
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0212-24.htm
#2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 allows the
president to deploy military troops anywhere in the United States and
take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent
of the governor or local authorities in order to "suppress public
disorder.
Bush Moves Toward Martial Law Frank Morales, Uruknet, 10/ 26/2006
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=27769
#3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africas Resources
In February 2007 the White House announced the formation of
the US African Command (AFRICOM), a unified Pentagon command center
in Africa. Presented as a humanitarian guard in the Global War on
Terror, the real objective is procurement and control of Africas oil
and its global delivery systems.
Understanding AFRICOM Parts 1-3, b real, MoonofAlabama.org 2/21/2007
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2007/02/understanding_a_1.html
#4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements
The US and European Union (EU) are vigorously pursuing
increasingly destructive trade and investment agreements outside the
auspices of the WTO, resulting in unprecedented exploitation, loss of
livelihood, displacement, and degradation of human rights and
environments.
Signing Away The Future Emily Jones, Oxfam, 3/2007
http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/briefingpapers/bp101_regional_trade_agreements_0703
Free Trade Enslaving Poor Countries Sanjay Suri, IPS coverage of
Oxfam Report, 3/20/2007
http://ipsnews.org/news.asp?idnews=37008
#5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq
The enduring monument to US liberation and democracy in Iraq
is being built by forced labor. Contractors subcontracting to the US
State Department are using bait-and-switch recruiting practices to
smuggle Asian workers into brutal and inhumane labor camps"in the
middle of the US-controlled Green Zone.
A U.S. Fortress Rises in Baghdad: Asian Workers Trafficked to Build
World's Largest Embassy David Phinney, CorpWatch, 10/17/2006
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14173
#6 Operation FALCON Raids
Under Operation FALCON"Federal and Local Cops Organized
Nationally"more than 30,000 fugitives were arrested in the largest
dragnets in the nation's history. Over 960 state, local and federal
agencies were directly involved. Only promotional coverage supplied
by the DOJ was ever aired. We have yet to be told who these fugitives
were and what became of them.
Operation Falcon and the Looming Police State Mike Whitney,
Uruknet, 2/26/2007
http://uruknet.info/?p=m30971&s1=h1
Operation Falcon SourceWatch, Updated 11/18/2006
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Operation_FALCON
#7 Behind Blackwater Inc.
Blackwater, the most powerful mercenary firm in the world, is
the company that most embodies the privatization of the military
industrial complex. Bushs contracts with Blackwater have allowed the
creation of a private army of more than 20,000 soldiers, operating
with almost no oversight or effective legal constraints, to deploy in
nine countries and aggressively expand its presence inside US borders.
Our Mercenaries in Iraq: Blackwater Inc and Bush's Undeclared Surge
Jeremy Scahill, Democracy Now! 1/26/07
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/26/1559232
#8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India
The Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture, quietly signed by
Bush and Indias Prime Minister Singh, trades Indias agricultural
sector for US nuclear technology. The KIA allows for the grab of
Indias seed sector by Monsanto, its trade sector by giant
agribusiness ADM and Cargill, and its retail sector by Wal-Mart.
Vandana Shiva on Farmer Suicides, the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal, Wal-
Mart in India Democracy Now! 12/13/2006
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/13/1451229
Genetically Modified Seeds: Women in India take on Monsanto Arun
Shrivastava, Global Research, 10/9/06
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=ARU20061009&articleId=3427
Sowing Trouble: India's ~Second Green Revolution Suman Sahai,
SciDev.Net, 5/9/06
http://www.scidev.net/content/opinions/eng/sowing-trouble-indias-second-green-revolution.cfm
#9 Privatization of Americas Infrastructure
More than 20 states have enacted legislation allowing public-
private partnerships to build and run highways. We will soon be
paying Wall Street investors, Australian bankers, and Spanish
contractors for the privilege of driving on American roads.
The Highwaymen Daniel Schulman with James Ridgeway. Mother Jones,
2/2007
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html
Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway Jerome R.
Corsi, Human Events, 6/12/2006
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15497
#10 Vulture Funds Threaten Debt Relief for Poor Nations
Vulture funds, as defined by the IMF, are companies that buy up the
debt of poor nations cheaply, when it is about to be written off, and
then sue for the full value of the debt plus interest"which might be
ten times what they paid for it. Otherwise known as distressed-debt
investors, these companies profit off plunging impoverished nations
into crippling debt.
Vulture Fund Threat to Third World Greg Palast with Meirion Jones
for BBC Newsnight, 02/14/2007
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17070.htm
#11 The Scam of Reconstruction in Afghanistan
Much of the US tax money earmarked to rebuild Afghanistan
actually ends up going no further than the pockets of wealthy US
corporations. Paychecks for overpriced, and often incompetent,
American experts under contract to USAID go directly from the
Agency to American bank accounts. Seventy percent of the aid that
does make it to a recipient country is carefully tied to the donor
nation for further fraud and exploitation.
Why It's Not Working in Afghanistan Ann Jones, Tomdispatch.com,
8/27/06
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=116512
Afghanistan Inc: a CorpWatch Investigative Report Fariba Nawa,
CorpWatch, 10/6/06
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13518
#12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops
On December 22, 2006 more than 30 unarmed Haitian civilians,
including women and children, were killed by extensive and
indiscriminate gunfire from UN peacekeeping forces, reportedly as
collective punishment for a massive demonstration days earlier
calling for the return of President Aristide.
UN in Haiti: Accused of Second Massacre Haiti Information Project,
Haiti Action, 1/21/2007
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/1_21_7/1_21_7.html
Haiti: Poor Residents of Capital Describe a State of Siege Wadner
Pierre and Jeb Sprague, IPS, 2/28/07
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36772
#13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants
In the wake of 9/11, Immigration Customs Enforcement has
conducted raids and roundups of illegal immigrants under the rubric
of preventing terrorism and keeping our homeland safe. The real goal,
however, is to replace the immigrant work force in the US with a
tightly regulated, exploitive guest-worker program.
Migrants: Globalizations Junk Mail? Laura Carlsen, Foreign Policy
in Focus, 2/23/07
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4022
Which Side are You on? David Bacon, Truthout, 1/29/07
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012907L.shtml
Workers, Not Guests David Bacon, The Nation, 2/6/07
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020607LB.shtml
#14 Impunity for US War Criminals
A last minute adjustment to the Military Commission Act of
2006 redefined torture, removed the harshest definition of war
crimes, and exempts the perpetrators from prosecution for such
offences dating back to November 1997. The source of this provision
is, however, a mystery. The White House denies any involvement or
knowledge regarding the insertion of such language into the MCA.
A Senate mystery keeps torture alive, and its practitioners free
Jeff Stein, Congressional Quarterly, 11/ 22/06
http://public.cq.com/public/20061122_homeland.html
#15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Genetically Transmitted to Future Generations
Research suggests that our behavior and our environmental
conditions may program sections of our childrens DNA. New evidence
about how genes interact with the environment suggests that many
industrial chemicals may be more ominously dangerous than previously
thought. One researcher points to a revolution in medicine: You
aren't eating and exercising just for yourself, but for your lineage.
Some Chemicals are More Harmful Than Anyone Ever Suspected Peter
Montague, Rachel's Democracy & Health News #876, 10/12/06
http://www.precaution.org/lib/06/ht061012.htm
#16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11
Osama bin Ladins role in the events of September 11, 2001 is not
mentioned on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted notice. Six years later the
FBI spokesperson explains, The reason 9/11 is not mentioned on
Osama bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard
evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11]
FBI says, ~No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11 Ed Haas,
Muckraker Report, 6/6/06
http://www.teamliberty.net/id267.html
#17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations
Corporations, municipalities, and the US military are using
Americas waters as their dumping ground "often with little or no
accountability. The average major facility discharges pollutants in
excess of its permitted limit by over 275 percent, nearly four times
the legal limit, while more than 40 percent of US waterways are
already unsafe for swimming and fishing,
Factories, Cities Across USA Exceed Water Pollution Limits Sunny
Lewis, Environment News Service 3/24/2006
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2006/2006-03-24-05.asp
Military Waste In Our Drinking Water Sunaura Taylor and Astra Taylor,
AlterNet, 8/4/2006
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/39723/
#18 Mexicos Stolen Election
US interests were significantly invested in the outcome of
Mexicos 2006 presidential election in which overwhelming evidence
reveals massive fraud.
Evidence of Election Fraud Grows in M(c)xico, Chuck Collins and
Joshua Holland, AlterNet, 8/2/2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/39763
Mexico: The Political Volcano Rumbles Revolution, 9/10/06
http://revcom.us/a/060/mexico-volcano-en.html
#19 Peoples Movement Challenges Neo-Liberal Agenda
In Latin America, massive opposition to US economic domination
has demanded that populist leaders and parties take control of
national governments, building powerful alternatives to neo-liberal
exploitation.
Is the US Free Trade Model Losing Steam? American Friends Service
Committee, Trade Matters, 5/3/06
http://www.afsc.org/trade-matters/trade-agreements/LosingSteam.htm
Economic Policy Changes With New Latin American Leaders Mark
Weisbrot, International Herold Tribune, 12/28/06
http://www.cepr.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=773&Itemid=45
Is Hugo Chaves a Threat to Stability? No. Mark Weisbrot,
International Affairs Forum, 3/31/07
http://www.cepr.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1102&Itemid=45
#20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists
The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006 expanded the
definition of terrorism to include acts that interfere, or promote
interference, with the operation of an animal enterprise. Over 160
groups opposed this Act on grounds that its terminology is
dangerously vague and poses major conflict to the US Constitution.
The AETA is Invidiously Detrimental to the Animal Rights Movement
(and Unconstitutional as Well) David Hoch and Odette Wilkens,
Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, 3/9/07
http://www.vjel.org/editorials/2007S/Hoch.Wilkens.Editorial.htm
US House Passes Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act With Little
Discussion or Dissent Will Potter, Green is the New Red, 11/14/06
http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/2006/11/13/aeta-passes-house-recap/
22 Years for Free-Speech Advocates: Six Animal Rights Activists
Given Lengthy Prison Sentences for Running Website Budgerigar, Earth
First! Journal, 11/06
http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/article.php?id=6
#21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments
The July 2006 Doha round of WTO negotiations broke down over the
contentious issue of farm trade and the unrestricted opening of
markets to agricultural products. In a last-minute proposal, one not
included on the original agenda, the US insisted that all trade
agreements include a special Peace Clause that would make its use
of illegal farm subsidies immune from prosecution by the countries
affected.
Canada launches WTO case on US subsidies Eoin Callan, Financial
Times, 1/9/2007
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5debac74-9f9b-11db-9e2e-0000779e2340.html
US seeks get-out clause for illegal farm payments Oxfam, 6/29/2006
http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/pressreleases2006/pr060629_wto_geneva
#22 North Invades Mexico
The number of North Americans living in Mexico has soared from
200,000 to 1 million (one-quarter of all US expatriates) in the past
decade. With more than 70 million American baby-boomers expected to
retire in the next two decades, experts predict a tidal wave of
migration. The land rush is sending up property values to the
detriment of locals whose children are consequently driven into slums
or forced to emigrate north.
Border Invaders: The Perfect Swarm Heads South Mike Davis,
TomDispatch.com, 9/19/2006
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=122537
#23 Feinsteins Conflict of Interest in Iraq
Dianne Feinstein is involved in monumental conflicts of
interest as she promotes and exploits the Global War on Terror. As a
member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee,
Senator Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions of dollars
to her husband's military construction firms, while consistently
voting to fund US military proliferation.
Senator Feinsteins Iraq Conflict Peter Byrne, Bohemian, 1/24/2007
http://www.bohemian.com/metro/01.24.07/dianne-feinstein-0704.html
#24 Media Misquotes Threat From Irans President
A mistranslated quotation attributed to Irans President
Ahmadinejad, which threatened that, Israel must be wiped off the
map, has been spread around the world. Ahmadinejads actual
statements, however, were significantly less threatening.
~Wiped Off The Map - The Rumor of the Century Arash Norouzi,
MohammadMossadegh.com, Global Research, 1/20/2007
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=NOR20070120&articleId=4527
Full Text: The President of Iran's Letter To President Bush
Translated by Le Monde, Information Clearing House, 05/09/06
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12984.htm
#25 Who Will Profit From Native Energy?
The US government and energy industry intend to market a shift
away from dependence on foreign energy by deregulating and stepping
up their exploitation (development) of wind and solar resources
located on Native American reservations.
Native Energy Futures Brian Awehali, Lip Magazine, 6/5/06
http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featawehali_nativefutures.htm
***
Statement by Project Censored Director Peter Phillips
Regarding the Importance of the 2008 Censored Stories a
nd the Nature of Censorship Today.
We need to broaden our understanding of censorship in the US. No
longer is the dictionary definition of direct government control of
news adequate. The private corporate media in the US significantly
undercover and/or deliberately censor numerous important news stories
every year.
The systemic erosion of human rights and civil liberties, in the US,
is the common theme of many of the most censored stories of 2006-07.
The corporate media last year ignored that habeas corpus can now be
suspended for anyone by order of the President. With the approval of
Congress, the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006, signed by Bush
on October 17, 2006, allows for the suspension of habeas corpus for
US citizens and non-citizens alike. While media, including a lead
editorial in the New York Times October 19, 2006, have given false
comfort that American citizens will not be the victims of the
measures legalized by this Act, the law is quite clear that ~any
person can be targeted. The text in the MCA allows for the
institution of a military alternative to the constitutional justice
system for any person regardless of American citizenship. The MCA
effectively does away with habeas corpus rights for all people living
in the US deemed by the President to be enemy combatants.
Laws enacted last year allowing the government to more easily
institute martial law is another civil liberties story ignored by
the corporate media in 2006-07. The John Warner Defense Authorization
Act of 2007 allows the president to station military troops anywhere
in the United States and take control of state-based National Guard
units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in
order to "suppress public disorder." The law in effect repealed the
Posse Comitatus Act, which had placed strict prohibitions on military
involvement in domestic law enforcement in the US since just after
the Civil War.
Additionally, under the code-name Operation FALCON (Federal and Local
Cops Organized Nationally) three federally coordinated mass arrests
occurred between April 2005 and October 2006. In an unprecedented
move, more than 30,000 fugitives were arrested in the largest
dragnets in the nation's history. The operations, coordinated by the
Justice Department and Homeland Security, directly involved over 960
agencies (state, local and federal) and are the first time in US
history that all of the domestic police agencies have been put under
the direct control of the federal government.
Finally, the term terrorism has been dangerously expanded to
include any acts that interfere, or promote interference with the
operations of animal enterprises. The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
(AETA), signed into law on November 27, 2006 expands the definition
of an animal enterprise to any business that uses or sells animals
or animal products. The law essentially makes many protesters,
boycotters or picketers of businesses in the US potential terrorists.
Most people in the US believe in our Bill of Rights and value
personal freedoms. Yet, our corporate media in the past year failed
to inform us about serious changes in our civil rights and
liberties. Despite our busy lives we want to be informed about
serious decisions made by the powerful and rely on the corporate
media to keep us abreast of important changes. When a media fails to
cover these issues, what else can we call it but censorship?
A broader definition of censorship in America today needs to include
any interference, deliberate or not, with the free flow of vital news
information to the American people. With the size of the major media
giants in the US, there is no excuse for consistently missing major
news stories that affect all our lives.
Peter Phillips e-mail: peter.p...@sonoma.edu
Andrew Roth e-mail: ro...@sonoma.edu
Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
(707) 664-2500
Tax-deductible donations accepted
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
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