Modern Media Censorship Lectures

Examining the nature of censorship in an era of global information

Sonoma State University
Fall 2008 - alternate Thursdays
(Aug 28, Sep 11 & 25, Oct 9 & 23, Nov 6 & 20, Dec 4)
Lectures begin at 7 PM
Darwin 103

Tickets per lecture: $10
Season ticket: $75 (includes all 8 regularly lectures)
Series Supporter: $200 (includes access to all presentations)
Free for currently enrolled SSU students

Project Censored and Sonoma State University present a series of lectures that look at the nature of information distribution in the United States by examining the important stories that fell through the cracks of our daily news.

SPEAKERS

Thursday, August 28, 2008

“Can it be called Censorship?” an introduction by Mickey Huff
“Diversity and Orthodoxy in the News Media” a conversation with Michael Parenti

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Constance Fogal – Foreign Policy Specialist
“North American Union: The SPP is a ‘hostile takeover’ of democratic government and an end to the Rule of Law” (Global Research Institute)

Stephen Lendman – Talk Radio Host, Global Research News Hour
“The Militarization and Annexation of North America” (Global Research Institute)

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Joshua Holland – Freelance Journalist
“Iraq death toll rivals Rwanda genocide, Cambodian killing fields” (Alternet)

Marcy Wheeler – Freelance Journalist
“Down The Rabbit Hole” (“The president is not legally obliged to follow his own executive orders”) (The Guardian UK)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Lindsay Beyerstein – Freelance Journalist
“Examining the Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act” (In These Times)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Mary Bauer – Research Director, Southern Poverty Law Center
“Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States” (co-written with Sarah Reynolds) (Southern Poverty Law Center)

Felicia Mello – Freelance Journalist
“Coming to America” (Rangel calls H-2 visa programs “the closest thing I’ve ever seen to slavery”) (The Nation)

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Michael Schwartz – Professor of Global Studies, University of New York at Stony Brook
“Is the United States Killing 10,000 Iraqis Every Month? Or Is It More?” (Alternet)

** Bonus Lecture **

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Dahr Jamail – Freelance Journalist
“Iraq: Not Our Country to Return to” and “Occupation Strangles Farmers” (Inter Press Service)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Jacob Wheeler – Freelance Journalist
“El Salvador’s Patriot Act” (In These Times)

Ben Dangl – Freelance Journalist and Founder, Upside Down World
“ILEA:  US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America” (AlterNet)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Matthew Rothschild – Freelance Journalist and Editor, Progressive magazine
“Exclusive! The FBI Deputizes Business (the Infragard alliance)” and “Bush’s Executive Order on Lebanon Even Worse than the One on Iraq” (the Progressive)

** Bonus Lecture **

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Antonia Juhasz - Foreign Policy Analyst
On “The Tyranny of Oil”


DESCRIPTION
In the fall semester, 2008, Project Censored and Sonoma State University will host a biweekly series of lectures to examine the nature of information distribution in the United States and to consider the potential for censorship in the most powerful media system that has ever existed. The lecture series will provide a forum for some of the best investigative journalists in our country today, allowing them to give an “insider’s perspective” on the hard-hitting news reports that fell through the cracks of the corporate mass media.

There is a growing consensus among long-time journalists and media observers that the system of news distribution in the United States has become flawed to the point of crisis. The current state of “information overload” creates the potential for a new kind of censorship where infomation isn’t denied, but it is distorted with regard to “importance” and “relevance.” Commonly, stories with little impact are broadcast eagerly and repeatedly while events that will have deep and long-lasting consequences are relegated to the back page and a single, fifteen-second blurb.

While many brave, committed reporters continue to struggle within the mass media news organizations that exist today, some of the most accomplished journalists of our era have rejected the current system and are instead working within respected independent “alternative” press outlets not afraid to speak their mind. Tired of the self-censorship and second-guessing inherent in American newsrooms—these reporters have decided to tell the truth, as it presents itself, not according to what government officials and corporate owners find acceptable.

This one-of-a-kind lecture series is aimed, not at “blaming the media,” but at taking the time to examine the dysfunctions that plague the current system.

The goal of these lectures is to delve deeply into the common media systems; to expand and deepen the conversation about news prioritization, self-censorship, pressure from advertisers, and the role of influential players.

The lectures ask:
How are important events covered by the major media outlets?
Are there stories or subjects that are consistently left out?
Do mainstream media outlets have a “liberal” or “conservative” bias?
Do distortions in the current system rise to the level of censorship?


This lecture series fulfills Sonoma State University course SOCI 497.1
hosted by Professor Mickey Huff, Associate Director, Project Censored
707-664-3373,

To help support or sponsor this one-of-a-kind lecture series, please call 707-664-3160, or email

2007 Media Accountability Conference

About the Conference

Some of the finest examples of investigative journalism come not from our daily news but from independent journals and the researchers who place a higher premium on digging up important news than on making profits.

It is unfortunate that many stories of greatest consequence go unrecognized until it is too late to respond. For every work of journalism that sparks a transformation (like Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” or Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense") there are a hundred that do not - but ought to.

Each year, publishers, researchers and students of journalism gather at Sonoma State in California’s North Bay to present and discuss their reports and to critique the choices made among mainstream news outlets over the previous year.

This year’s Best of the Censored list honors the work of such journalistic notables as Robert Parry, Thom Hartmann, Jeremy Scahill and Greg Palast. Just as often though, it includes the work of the dedicated but unsung investigative researchers who simply have, as last-year’s honoree Jason Leopold tells us, “a passion for uncovering the truth.”

Who was there

Thom Hartmann is a three-time Project Censored-award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of 19 books in print in 14 languages, and the host of a national daily progressive radio talk show, now in its fifth year on the air. Thom has focused on a number of different topics including Corporate Personhood and, most recently, the Military Commissions Act.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/

Frank Morales is an Episcopal priest and activist in New York City. He is known for his articles about the Military Industrial Complex published by magazines such as Covert Action Quarterly and Global Outlook. In 2003, he founded the Campaign to Demilitarize the Police in NYC.

Will Potter is an award-winning independent journalist based in Washington, D.C., who focuses on how the War on Terrorism affects civil liberties. He has written for publications including: The Chicago Tribune, In These Times, The Texas Observer, The Washington City Paper, Z and Counterpunch

Fariba Nawa is an Afghanistan-American freelance journalist who grew up in Fremont, California and was born in Herat, Afghanistan. In 2000 she ventured into Taliban controlled Afghanistan by sneaking into the country through Iran. Her report Afghanistan Inc. (in Corp Watch) is one of the main resources used in different medias around the globe while debating effectiveness of reconstruction efforts.

Robert Parry is an American investigative journalist who has written for Associated Press and Newsweek, and broke a number of Iran-Contra stories. In 1995, he established ConsortiumNews.com as an online ezine dedicated to investigative journalism. Robert Parry has written several books, including Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq (2004).

Jeremy Scahill is an investigative journalist whose comprehensive analysis of the subjects he reports on has established him as a leading expert on several global issues. His most recent reports have focused on the rise of Private Military Corporations (such as Blackwater Inc) around the world.

Odette Wilkens is a New York attorney specializing in contract law. She became an animal activist after attending the AR2006 National Conference. She is co-founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Alliance formed in 2006 to educate the public about the dangers of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and to defeat such legislation.

http://www.noaeta.org/

Kevin Pina is an independent journalist, filmmaker and Associate Editor of the Black Commentator. He is founder of the Haiti Information Project, and currently resides in Haiti. He is also Haiti special correspondent for Flashpoints. There will be a showing of Kevin Pina’s documentary “Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits” following the opening panel at the 2007 Media Accountability conference.

Mike Whitney graduated from St. Michael’s College in English Lit in 1975. Currently, he is Program Director of the Snohomish County Democrats but, he admits that his interest in politics only began with the appointment of GW Bush as President. He says the, like many other regular Americans, he has understood from the very beginning the global aspirations of the Cabal that presently occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Tim Montague is an environmental activist and researcher based out of Chicago. Tim is co-editor of Rachel’s Democracy & Health Weekly with his father, Peter Montague. His articles on epigenetics and the Precautionary Principle are widely published online and in print.

Peter Byrne has received national, regional, and local recognition for investigative work, writing style, and in-depth profiles of politicians, grifters, grafters, and.. artists (for whom he has a soft spot).
Byrne’s story “Death, Maiming, Money & Muni” was a finalist in 2004 for the Investigative Award given by Investigative Reporters & Editors. This hard-hitting expose of San Francisco’s transit system also won first place for investigative reporting from the Association of Alternative Weeklies.

Wadner Pierre currently works in the Bureau des avocats internationaux, which does the most important human rights work in Haiti. He is a journalist and photographer in Port au Prince, documenting the struggles of the voiceless poor in Haiti. Many of my articles can be seen on HaitiAnalysis.com, IJDH, and HaitiAction.net.

Luciente Zamora and Nina Armand work with the Revolution Newspaper Collective which is the voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party in the US. Its ideology is Marxism-Leninism- Maoism. Its vanguard is the Revolutionary Communist Party.

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at AlterNet and a regular contributor to the Gadflyer. He is currently a research fellow with the Los Angeles-based Center for Active Learning in International Studies, a youth outreach program. Joshua has a B.A. in international relations from the University of Southern California.

Sunny Lewis is Editor-in-Chief of the Environment News Service (ENS), established in 1990. It is independently owned and operated and is the original daily international wire service of the environment. ENS exists to present late-breaking environmental news in a fair and balanced manner. Its news reports are indexed by Reuters/Dow Jones Factiva, and KeepMedia. Hundreds of websites feature ENS headlines and story briefs.

Mickey S. Huff holds a graduate degree in history, is a musician/composer, and a long time civic activist. He is currently adjunct faculty in history and critical thinking at Berkeley City College, Chabot College, and Diablo Valley College where he has taught over 100 courses in the past 6 years. He was co-director of the alternative polling group Retropoll (http://www.retropoll.org/) and is a Community Evaluator for Project Censored.

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Contact Project Censored

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Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928

Telephone: (707) 664-2500
Email:

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Media Map of Major Media Ownership and Governance

A board of directors is a group of individuals chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company. Board members in most legal jurisdictions have specific fiduciary duties, whereby they act for the benefit of others.

In the United States and most other industrialized countries the board hires a chief executive officer (CEO), President, and other professional managers to run the day-to-day operations of the company, while the board retains a high-level form of oversight. Typically corporate boards are involved in issues of ownership, strategy, financing, and mergers and acquisitions.

Media Company (Assets in Millions)	Associated Boards	Board of Directors
Gannett Total Current Assets 1,370,695 Total Assets 15,399,251	Asia Pacific Fund, Inc. Associated Press Carlisle Companies, Inc. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Chubb Corporation Continental Airlines, Inc. Electronic Data Systems Corporation Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University KB Home Corporation Lennar Corporation Lockheed Martin Corporation Orange S.A. PepsiCo, Inc. Prudential Mutual Funds SunTrust Banks, Inc Target Corporation Temple-Inland Corporation Trustee, Financial Accounting Foundation UnitedHealth Group WGL Holdings, Inc.	Douglas H. McCorkindale Louis D. Boccardi James A. Johnson Duncan M. McFarland Stephen P. Munn Donna E. Shalala Solomon D. Trujillo Karen Hastie Williams
New York Times Total Current Assets 613,893 Total Assets 3,949,857	Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) APCOA Parking AG, German Augustana College Bewerbungskomitee Leipzig 2012 Carlyle Group, 2001 Eli Lilly and Company  KarstadtQuelle AG, German Fitch Ratings, a U.S./U.K. Flamel Technologies S.A Ford Motor Company Hallmark Cards, Inc. International Herald Tribune Johnson & Johnson Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.  Staples, Inc. Lucent Technologies Inc. PepsiCo, Inc. Polestar Corporation, a British company Times Square Business Improvement District   LHIW Real Estate Development Partnership U.S. Venture Partners  North Castle Partners, LLC W.R. Grace & Co.	John F. Akers Brenda C. Barnes Raul E. Cesan Lynn G. Dolnick Michael Golden William E. Kennard, David E. Liddle Ellen R. Marram Thomas Middelhoff Janet L. Robinson Henry B. Schacht Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. Cathy J. Sulzberger Doreen A. Toben
Washington Post Total Current Assets 754,367 Total Assets 4,316,641	Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Brookings Institution Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Georgetown University IAC/InterActiveCorp, USA Interactive Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP BrassRing, Inc Pulitzer Prize Board, District of Columbia College Access Program Federal City Council in Washington, DC. Summit Fund of Washington Coca-Cola Company Gillette Company Life Trustee Urban Institute Member American Academy of Arts and Sciences IAC/InterActiveCorp Coca-Cola Company New York University Medical Sciences at UCLA Conservation International Channel 13/WNET School of Cinema-Television, USC University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education drugstore.com White Mountains Insurance Group, Inc. Madison Square Boys and Girls Club  Pinkerton Foundation  Life Director and Chairman Emeritus, National Multiple Sclerosis Society  John M. Olin Foundation  William S. Paley Foundation  Arthur Ross Foundation  Museum of Television and Radio The Jackson Laboratory RAND Corporation USC Annenberg School for Communication Southern California Public Radio Berkshire Hathaway Edison International City National Corporation Dun & Bradstreet Corporation Moody's Investors Service J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc. Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York Union Pacific Corporation Yankee Publishing Inc. General Electric Investments Advisory Board of Directorship White Burkett Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation Newspapers of New England, Inc. Bakersfield (California) Californian Associated Press	Donald E. Graham Warren E. Buffett, Barry Diller John L. Dotson Jr. Melinda French Gates George J. Gillespie III Ronald L. Olson Alice M. Rivlin Richard D. Simmons George W. Wilson
Knight-Ridder Total Current Assets 549,795 Total Assets 4,222,278	Adobe Systems, Inc. Echelon Corporation Economics Studies, Inc H&R Block, Inc Kimberly-Clark Corporation Public Broadcasting Service Starwood Hotels and Resorts Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania	Mark Earnest Kathleen Feldstein Thomas Gerrity Ronald McRay Pat Mitchell Kenneth Oshman Vasat Prabhu Anthony Ridder Gonzalo Valdes- Fauli John E. Warnock
The Tribune Company Total Current Assets 1,452,444 Total Assets 14,168,196	3M Company Allstate Corporation Aon Corporation Big Shoulders Fund Boys and Girls Clubs Business Council Carpenter Technology Corporation Caterpillar Inc. Nicor Inc. Chandler Ranch Co Chandler Trusts Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Chicago Horticultural Society Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Urban League Children’s Hospice International Children’s Memorial Foundation Children’s Memorial Medical Center Cincinnati Association for the Performing Arts CINergy Corp. Commercial Club of Chicago ConocoPhillips Control Data Corporation Economic Club of Chicago ElderPort Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Executives’ Club of Chicago Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Fortune Brands, Inc. General Electric Information Services. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Grocery Manufacturers of America Harvey and Mildred Mudd Foundation Hydril Company Illinois Tool Works Inc. Inter-Con Security Systems Inc.  Kraft Foods, Inc. Interspan Communications Junior Achievement of Chicago Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern Lake Forest Academy Board of Trustees Lake Forest Bank and Trust Lake Forest College Louise Taft Semple Foundation Lyric Opera of Chicago McCormick Tribune Foundation McDonald’s Corporation Media Security and Reliability Council, FCC Museum of Science and Industry, Northwestern University Boy Scouts of America Newspaper Association of America Nordstrom Inc. Northern Trust Corporation Northwestern Memorial Foundation Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP PepsiCo Inc Quaker Oats Company Reyes Holdings LLC Ronald McDonald House Charities Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center Schering-Plough Corporation Schlumberger Limited Secretary of Defense to the Defense Policy Advisory Committee on Trade (DPACT) Southern Star Group and Fifth Third Bancorp Standard Technology, Inc. Taft Broadcasting Comp The Union Central Life Insurance Company Tupperware Corporation United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc. University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees Wells Fargo & Company Wintrust Financial Corporation World Business Chicago YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago	Dennis J. FitzSimons Jeffrey Chandler, Roger Goodan Enrique Hernandez, Jr. Betsy D. Holden, Robert S. Morrison William A. Osborn J. Christopher Reyes William Stinehart, Jr. Dudley S. Taft Kathryn C. Turner
News Corp. Total Current Assets 9,931,785 Total Assets 41,783,141	Allen & Company LLC Arthur M. Siskind British Airways Georgetown University Independent Newspapers Limited Partner Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers Rothschild Investment Trust C.P.  Tsinghua University of Beijing	K. Rupert Murdoch , Chase Carey, Peter Chernin, Kenneth E. Cowley, David F. DeVoe, Viet Din , Rod Eddington, Andrew S.B. Knight, Lachlan Murdoch, Thomas J. Perkins, Stanley S. Shuman, Arthur M. Siskind , John L. Thornton
AOL/Time Warner Total Assets 123,339,000 Total Current Assets 14,639,000	Apollo Theatre Foundation Citigroup Estee Lauder Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Museum of Modern Art Howard University Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy Barksdale Management Corporation Colgate-Palmolive Company Harvard University Hills & Company Hilton Hotels Corporation ZG Ventures, L.L.C.	Richard D. Parsons, James L. Barksdale, Carla A. Hills , Stephen F. Bollenbach, Reuben Mark, Stephen M. Case, Michael A. Miles, Frank J. Caufield, Kenneth J. Novack, Robert C. Clark, R.E. Turner, Miles R. Gilburne, Francis T. Vincent, Jr.
General Electric   2004 Revenues: 152.4 billion 2004 Earnings: $16.6 billion	America Movil American Accounting Association American Film Institute American Museum of Natural History Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. Ann Taylor Stores Avon, U.S. Babson College Bechtel Group, Inc. Boston Museum of Science Boys & Girls Clubs of America ChevronTexaco Corporation Chubb Corporation Coca-Cola Company Columbia Business School. Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association. Dell Inc. GE Capital Services General Electric Company General Motors Corporation Grupo ALFA Grupo Carso Grupo Mexico Grupo Televisa Hamilton College and Xavier University Home Depot, Inc. Internet Security Systems, Inc. Investment Co. of America. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Kellogg Company Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, S.A. Lauder Institute Board of Governors (Wharton School of Arts & Sciences) Mexico Fund, Inc. Microsoft Corporation Motorola, Inc. Museum of Television and Radio Motion Picture and Television Fund Corporation NBC Universal New York Presbyterian Hospital Nuclear Threat Initiative Ogilvy & Mather North America CEO, chairman Partners Healthcare Penske Corporation Procter & Gamble. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Simmons College United Auto Group, Inc. United States Senate Ret. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. World Wildlife Fund	Jeffrey R. Immelt, James I. Cash, Jr., William Castell LVO, Dennis D. Dammerman, Ann M. Fudge, Claudio X. Gonzalez, Andrea Jung, A.G. Lafley, Rochelle B. Lazarus, Sam Nunn, Roger S. Penske, Robert J. Swieringa, Douglas A. Warner III, Robert C. Wright
Walt Disney Total Current Assets 9,369,000 Total Assets 53,902,000	Boeing Company California Health Care Foundation CB Richard Ellis, Inc. Northwest Airlines Corporation Clorox DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP Duke University Estée Lauder Companies Inc. FedEx Corporation Georgetown University Gillette Company Halliburton Co. ImpreMedia, LLC Inditex S.A. International Air Transport Association. KMart Holding Corporation Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,New York City McKesson Corporation. Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios Siemens Pyramid  Staples Inc. SunAmerica Asset Management Corp. Sybase, Inc. Tenet Healthcare Corporation. The Keck School of Medicine, at USC United States Senator from 1980 to 1995 University of California University of Southern California Western Asset Yahoo!, Inc	John E. Bryson, John S. Chen, Mr. Eisner, Judith L. Estrin, Robert A. Iger, Fred H. Langhammer, Aylwin B. Lewis, Monica C. Lozano, Robert W. Matschullat, Senator George J. Mitchell, Leo J. O'Donovan, Gary L. Wilson
Viacom	American Express Co. American International Group, Inc., Automatic Data Processing, Inc. Bear Stearns Companies Inc.  Boston University Law School Brandeis University Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Cardinal Health, Inc. CineBridge Ventures, Inc. Cohen Group Combined Jewish Philanthropies National Association of Theatre Owners Consolidated Edison, Inc. Dana Farber Cancer Institute DND Capital Partners, L.L.C European Fine Arts Foundation Gabelli Asset Management Head N.V. John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Lafarge North America Inc. Lourie & Cutler Midway Games Inc. MovieTickets.com, Inc Museum of Fine Arts in Boston National Amusements, Inc. National College of Probate Judges Oracle Corporation Popular Inc. Rising Star Media Sonesta International Hotels Corporation.  Lourie & Cutler, P.C. United States House of Representatives 1973-1979 Willis Group Holdings Limited Winer and Abrams	Sumner M. Redstone, George S. Abrams, David R. Andelman, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., William S. Cohen, Philippe P. Dauman, Alan C. Greenberg, Charles E. Phillips, Shari Redstone, Frederic V. Salerno, William Schwartz, Robert D. Walter

Corporate Media Ownership

The Project Censored team researched the board members of 10 major media organizations from newspaper to television to radio. Of these ten organizations, we found there are 118 people who sit on 288 different American and international corporate boards proving a close on-going interlock between big media and corporate America. We found media directors who also were former Senators or Representatives in the House such as Sam Nunn (Disney) and William Cohen (Viacom). Board members served at the FCC such as William Kennard (New York Times) and Dennis FitzSimmons (Tribune Company) showing revolving door relationships with big media and U.S. government officials.

These ten big media organizations are the main source of news for most Americans. Their corporate ties require us to continually scrutinize the quality of their news for bias. Disney owns ABC so we wonder how the board of Disney reacts to negative news about their board of directors friends such as Halliburton or Boeing. We see board members with connections to Ford, Kraft, and Kimberly-Clark who employ tens of thousands of Americans. Is it possible that the U.S. workforce receives only the corporate news private companies want them to hear? Do we collectively realize that working people in the U.S. have longer hours, lower pay and fewer benefits than their foreign counterparts? If these companies control the media, they control the dissemination of news turning the First Amendment on its head by protecting corporate interests over people.

Censorship Guide for Teachers

12 Ways To Use Project Censored In Your Classroom

from “Challenging Big Media News And Censorship” in the ACME Activities Guide (http://www.acmecoalition.org/)

1. “News” and “Censorship”: Beginning with definitions can be helpful. Have students define “news,” and make a list of topics THEY deem newsworthy. Compare their lists with what “news” they actually see, hear or read in various media outlets devoted to “news” – television, radio, print, the Internet. Then, have students define “censorship.” Ask them: Do we live in a society in which “news” is “censored”? Why might this be?
2. Media Ownership Chart: Most of our media sources are ultimately owned by a very small number of very large media corporations. Have students make a list of all the media they consume in a “typical” day – print media, television, video games, music, etc. Aim for a list of between 8-10 media examples. Then, ask students to research and chart who ultimately owns each media example. Use www.cjr.org and www.mediareform.net to help you and your students with questions of ownership, parent companies, etc.
3. Media “News” Journal: Have each student monitor or explore ONE specific news source in your community – a local television or radio news show, or a local newspaper (often owned by a large media corporation). Have students make a list of the 4-6 major news stories covered in their particular news source over a 1-2 day period, and then compare their findings in class. What do they observe about the nature of news in their community? Are the same sorts of stories covered across the spectrum? Is there some diversity of news coverage? What stories are of real importance to your students, and which seem irrelevant? Ask them: How do they suppose news stories are chosen by media outlets?
4. Censored News Stories – Research: Have students select a PC news story from the “Top 25” list and become an “expert” on the story, not only by reading the PC article, but by finding at least 3 other independent news stories about the topic. Then, have students write a short summary of the story, concluding with some thoughts about why that particular story might be on the “censored” list.
5. Public Presentation: Have students prepare and present a 5-7 minute speech to the classroom or community on their PC story, complete with a multimedia component if possible (PowerPoint, KeyNote, posters, a collage). Find public spaces for students to display their writing and work.
6. Critical Viewing: Have students watch and critique a “news” show, preferably one they have never seen before. Apply ACME’s “Questioning Media” principles, available for FREE download at ACME’s web site.
7. Critical Reading: Have students read and critique a daily newspaper or weekly news magazine, preferably one they have never read before. Apply ACME’s “Questioning Media” principles, available for FREE download at ACME’s web site.
8. Letters To The Editor: Have students draft and mail letters to the editor of their local newspaper highlighting what they have learned from their conversations and research.
9. Media Production - Radio Spot: Have students script and perform a 2-3 minute radio news story, complete with voice overs and sound effects. If possible, record the stories for public airing and send them to a local radio station.
10. Media Production – TV/Video Spot: Have students script, film and edit a 2-3 minute television news story. Send the VHS or DV copies of the stories to the local news station.
11. Class Visits: Invite a local television, radio, or print news anchor, editor, or journalist to class to talk about their own experiences as a news producer. Ask your visitor to consider engaging the claims made in PC re: media, news, and censorship.
12. Class Debate: Have students read some of the essays included with PC. Then, select a provocative question related to your study of media, news, and censorship. “Do we live in a censored news culture?” “Do Big Media corporations exercise too much control over U.S. news?” Have students prepare a position on the question, based on evidence from a variety of sources, and host a formal debate.

Project Censored Internships

Project Censored is a student-faculty media research project in its 31st year of operation at Sonoma State University.  The Project needs student interns to help with our research, writing, production and promotion. Of a book we publish yearly “Censored:  The News That Didn’t Make the News.” Student interns also post important news to our website, produce television documentaries, represent the Project on radio and in public presentations, and planning fundraising events.  1-4 Internship Units can be earned through Sociology, Communications Studies or other departments.  Interns work from 45-180 volunteer hours during the semester on one of the following teams.  All positions have training components for students to learn duties required.

Applications for teams can be picked up from Trish Boreta in the Project Censored Office (Stevenson-2087).  Phone 664-2500. E-mail:

Spring 2008 Internships

Research and Writing Team

Research and write for publication in the Censored 2009 Yearbook.  Search publications and internet for important censored news stories; select articles and write reviews for web postings; Write selected chapters of Censored 2009; Involves research, author contact, interviewing, writing and editing.

Public Speaking and Events Team

Train to do public presentations and radio interviews for Project Censored.  Contact radio stations, colleges, high schools, book stores in the Bay Area for speaking engagements and radio interviews.  Plan and manage events, secure venues, manage gate and placement of sale of books and publicity materials.

Broadcast Team

Perform and edit Project Censored segments for on-air audio and video.  Includes script editing and recording of presentations and interviews. Also needed are students skilled with Final Cut, Photoshop, Power Point, iDVD and audio recording programs.

Independent News Sources

News Services

Agence France-Presse
AllAfrica
BBC News
Common Dreams NewsWire
Daily/journalism.org
DataLounge
Envirolink News
Environmental Media Services
Enviro Newsnet
EurekAlert!
FAIR
Gay Financial News
GlobalInfo.org
GlobalSpin
Good News Agency
Headwaters News
IndyMedia.org
Institute for Public Accuracy
Inter Press Service
MediaChannel.org
Media Education Foundation
ModelMinority.com
NewsForChange
NewsWeCanUse
OneWorld.net
Planet Out
Positive Top Story
PR Newswire
rabble.ca
Reuters Headlines
Reuters Politics
Reuters World
Stratfor
TalkLeft.com
UWire.com
Women’s E-News
World Wires

Periodicals & Webzines

Adbusters
Advocate
Albion Monitor
Alternet
AJReview NewsLink
American NewSpeak
American Prospect
Asheville Global Report
Atlantic Monthly
Bad Subjects
BeyondChron
Boston Review
Bulletin/Atomic Scientists
Bulletin/Asian Scholars
Business Ethics
Buzzflash
Canadian Dimension
Catholic Worker
Change Links
City Limits
Clamor
Coffee Shop Times
Color Lines
Commonweal
Conscious Choice
Consortium
Consumer Reports
CorpWatch
CounterPunch
Covert Action
Dissent
Dollars & Sense
Doonesbury Daily
DoubleTake
E Magazine
Earth Island Journal
EarthLight
Eat The State!
Electronic Intifada
Extra!
Foreign Policy/In-Focus
Good Money
Governing
Grassroots Econ Organizing
Grist Magazine
Harpers
Health Policy
Heroine Magazine
High Country News
Hip Mama
HopeDance
Horizon
In Motion
In the Fray
In These Times
Ironic Times
Jinn
Justice Denied
LaborNotes
Left Business Observer
MediaChannel.org
Media-Alliance
Metaphoria
Middle East Report
MonkeyFist Collective
Monthly Review
Mother Jones
Ms. Magazine
Multinational Monitor
Nation Magazine
National Catholic Reporter
National Parks
New Internationalist
New Labor Forum
New Left Review
New Politics
New Republic
New Rules Journal
Newswatch Project
Newsweek
New Yorker
New York Press
New York Review of Books
Non-Violent Activist
NorthernSky News
NOW Times
Ode
Off Our Backs
Onion.com
Orion Magazine
Peacework
Planet/Sierra Club
Political Sci Quarterly
Progressive Magazine
Progressive Populist
Progressive Response
Progressive Review
PR Watch
Public Eye Magazine
Public-I
Rabble.ca
Rachel’s Weekly
Ragged Edge
Red Pepper
Rethinking Marxism
Rethinking Schools
Salon
Satya
Scientific American
Seven Magazine
SF Bay Guardian
Shelterforce
SmokingGun.com
Social Policy
Sojourners
Stay Free!
Sun Magazine
Synthesis/Regeneration
Terrain
Texas Observer
This Magazine
Tikkun
Time
Timeline
TomPaine.com
Toward Freedom
Truthout
Utne Reader
Village Voice
War Times
Washington Monthly
Washington Spectator
Whole Earth Magazine
Wild Duck Review
WireTap
Wired Politics
Women’s Review of Books
Work In Progress
World Policy Journal
World*Watch
Yes! Magazine
Z Magazine

Radio

ACORN Radio
Air America
AlternativeRadio.org
Beyond War
Broadcast.com
CounterSpin
Democracy Now!
Flashpoints
Free Speech Radio News
Hightower Radio
Hober: Thinking Radio
It’s Your Environment
JazzFM
KPFA- Berkeley
Latino USA
Making Contact
Media Matters/Bob McChesney
Microradio.org
National Radio Project
NewBlackCity Radio
New Dimensions
NPR/All Things Considered
NPR/Morning Edition
NPR/Talk Of The Nation
Pacifica Radio
Partytown/Low Power Radio
ProgressiveRadio
PublicRadioFan.com
Radio Directory
Radio for Peace Intl
RadioLeft
RadioNation
RadioPower.org
The Connection
Thom Hartmann Show
Peter Werbe Show
Working Assets Radio
Workers Independent News Service

Other Resources

My America ...Is Democracy Floundering? by Fred Flanagan
U.S Project Censored Exchanges With Cuban Journalists during Havana Conference
Jodi Solomon Speakers Bureau Inc.

If you have an alternative news website or resource you would like to see posted, send us an e-mail at and we’ll check it out. If we like the site, we’ll post a link on this page for you. Thanks!

The Bangladesh Human Rights Network (www.banglarights.net) is an independent platform for media professionals and activists who believe in a society which is respectful of the rights of all its members. Also see www.chobimela.org, www.drik.net.

The First Amendment Cyber-Tribune (FACT) (http://w3.trib.com/FACT/) is intended to be a resource for anyone wanting to learn about the First Amendment. It provides information on all the liberties guaranteed by the amendment. The site will be continually updated and expanded.

The People’s Weekly World (www.pww.org) is part of the independent media movement, covering labor, student, community, religious and peace organizations.

The /RENEGADE/ "dedicated to spirit, truth, peace, justice, and freedom" site (http://fornits.com/renegade/) is a newsletter of witness, conscience, and activism. Created by *STRIDER*… just some guy that does what he can to fight for justice and stuff; not a professional writer or anything, but seems to have found a nice niche on the net self-publishing activist alerts, an occasional rant or poem, and various compilations.

Nominate a Story

Some of the most important stories Project Censored evaluates are sent to us as nominations from a worldwide community of concerned citizens. These stories are forwarded from websites, or clipped from small circulation periodicals or back pages of regional newspapers. If you see a story and wonder why it hasn’t been covered by mainstream media, we encourage you to send it to us as a Project Censored nomination.

To nominate a Censored story, send us the article, preferably as a url website address, by email with NOMINATION in the subject heading. Make sure the author, publication, and date of publication are noted.

GUIDELINES:

1. A censored news story is one which contains information that the general United States population has a right and need to know, but to which it has had limited access.

2. The news story has direct connections to and implications for people in the United States, which can include activities that U.S. citizens and entities are engaged in abroad.

3. The story is timely and ongoing, with clearly defined concepts and verifiable documentation.

4. The news story has been published, either electronically or in print, in a circulated newspaper, journal, magazine, newsletter, or similar online publication from either a foreign or domestic source.

We evaluate stories year-round and post important under-covered news to our website and listserve regularly. March 15 is, however, the deadline for nominating stories for the annual Top 25 Censored News Stories yearbook consideration.

Now’s the time . . .Nominate a Censored News Story

BY POSTAL MAIL:

Project Censored Nominations
Sociology Department
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
or send nominations to:

BY EMAIL:

Please e-mail nominations to:
or use the following form.

All submissions must include the AUTHOR, SOURCE (name of the publication in which the article appears), DATE (Month/Day/Year of the publication in which the article appears), and the FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE.

What do we mean by censorship?

WHAT IS MODERN CENSORSHIP?

At Project Censored, we examine the coverage of news and information important to the maintenance of a healthy and functioning democracy. We define Modern Censorship as the subtle yet constant and sophisticated manipulation of reality in our mass media outlets. On a daily basis, censorship refers to the intentional non-inclusion of a news story – or piece of a news story – based on anything other than a desire to tell the truth. Such manipulation can take the form of political pressure (from government officials and powerful individuals), economic pressure (from advertisers and funders), and legal pressure (the threat of lawsuits from deep-pocket individuals, corporations, and institutions).

WHAT IS MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY?

In our view, the only valid justification for declining a news story is that in a medium limited by time and space, another news story was simply more important to the people of the community, whether local, national or international. While admittedly a subjective process, it is nonetheless, a process to be undertaken by the news people themselves (the investigative journalists and editors), NOT by the managers and CEOs of their “parent company.” No professional journalist or researcher should ever have to face the destruction of his or her career (or life) simply because they wanted to tell the truth. While no two people will always agree on what story is more important than another, a system where the working reporters and editors run the newsroom would at least provide a fertile environment for debate, dissent and critical thinking.

The growth of independent media and journalism in recent years shows that people throughout the world yearn to hold not only their leaders accountable, but their media sources as well. For that reason, the Project Censored research program continues, in its small way, to support and highlight those who tell the truth about the powerful (no matter the consequences) and are relentless in their quest to hold Big Media accountable for their decisions. 

Fair Use Statement

This site may contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. we believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Support Project Censored

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About Project Censored

PROJECT CENSORED

Stevenson 2087
(707) 664-2500
Fax: (707) 664-3920

www.projectcensored.org

Director
Peter Phillips, Professor Sociology

Founded by Carl Jensen in 1976, Project Censored is a media research program working in cooperation with numerous independent media groups in the US. Project Censored’s principle objective is training of SSU students in media research and First Amendment issues and the advocacy for, and protection of, free press rights in the United States.  Project Censored has trained over 1,500 students in investigative research in the past three decades.
Through a partnership of faculty, students, and the community, Project Censored conducts research on important national news stories that are underreported, ignored, misrepresented, or censored by the US corporate media. Each year, Project Censored publishes a ranking of the top 25 most censored nationally important news stories in the yearbook, Censored: Media Democracy in Action, which is released in September. Recent Censored books have been published in Spanish, Italian and Arabic.

The Project works in cooperation with SSU academic classes Sociology of Media and Sociology of Censorship, where students earn credit for their research and participate in writing the annual yearbook. Additionally, Project Censored sponsors and supervises over 60 student interns a year who do in depth investigative research, sponsor campus events and speakers, and organize an annual national Media Accountability Conference. Students also participate in writing the Project Censored quarterly newsletter (circulation 9,000) and assist with maintaining the Project Censored website www.projectcensored.org, which receives over a million views a month from all over the world.

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, 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.

Project Censored is administered through the SSU Sociology Department with financial support from the SSU Instructionally Related Activity Fund, School of Social Science, Media Freedom Foundation Inc. and donations from thousands of supporters around the country.