Project Censored in the Classroom -

Critical thinking and media literacy are essential skill sets for students in the 21^st century. Teachers who bring Project Censored into their classrooms give their students direct, hands-on opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills and media literacy.

For college students, researching Validated Independent News stories (VINs) can be a challenging and rewarding assignment that instructors can tailor to fit their courses and students’ needs. Identifying, researching, and summarizing candidate stories will sharpen students’ critical thinking skills (including interpretation, evaluation, and explanation) and enhance their media literacy.

Project Censored posts candidate stories accepted as Validated Independent News (VINs) online and subsequently considers these for inclusion among the top 25 stories in our annual book. Both online and in the book, we acknowledge the students and faculty who contribute VINs by name.

For guidelines on how to find, evaluate, and summarize Validated Independent News stories, click here.

To download the Teacher’s Guide for State of the Free Press | 2021, click here.

For both high school and college students, instructors can consider our “Censorship Guide for Teachers: 12 Ways To Use Project Censored In Your Classroom.” We also recommend the Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME) resource, “Our 21^st Century Media Culture: Eight Shifts.”

Professor Testimonials

I love using Project Censored in my classes. When the students begin the process of analyzing independent news stories it is as if a lightbulb has turned on for them and they never look at media the same way again.

Susan Rahman, Sociology, College of Marin and Sonoma State University

I have used the Project Censored books in my classes for 20 years. The top 25 Censored stories quickly demonstrate to students that they cannot rely on the corporate media for the accurate information necessary to a democracy. Project Censored lays the foundation for teaching a global analysis of social and environmental justice and the activism required to work for it.

Julie Andrzejewski, Department of Human Relations and Multicultural Education, St. Cloud State University

Few assignments are as relevant to liberal arts education for the 21^st century as Project Censored. According to published reports by the Pew Research Center and others, news consumption among young people is on the decline. Project Censored cultivates student engagement with news, civic affairs, and public policy debates – arguably a cornerstone for rigorous liberal arts training.

Project Censored is a unique mechanism for establishing disciplinary connections across campus. Here at DePauw University, students enrolled in introductory media studies courses work collaboratively with faculty and staff whose expertise may be in economics, history, women’s studies, environmental science or conflict studies, among other disciplines. These collaborative efforts demonstrate the potential for student-faculty research—research that not only makes it to publication, but also highlights student agency in counteracting the deficiencies of a dysfunctional journalistic culture. In the parlance of activists and reform-minded critics, Project Censored encourages students and faculty alike to “speak back” to the media.

-Kevin Howley, Media Studies, DePauw University

Project Censored’s annual yearbook, published by Seven Stories Press, anchors my Alternative Media class, serving not only as a textbook and guide to alternative media, but as an inspiration for my students. This is a designated Service Learning class where students validate censored or underreported stories for Project Censored, which our institution has vetted as a Service Learning partner. Since the vast majority of censored or underreported stories come from alternative media, searching for and validating such stories gives students an intimate familiarity with the breadth of available alternative media sources, making this partnership ideal as a real world tool for teaching about alternative media. The process of discovering an important censored or underreported story, researching and validating it, and seeing it go “global” as a neat package on Project Censored’s website, all before the end of the semester, has proven to be an inspirational and sometimes transformational experience for students. Once a story goes online, students often enthusiastically share the experience on social media, virally sharing what they have learned.

Michael I. Niman, Journalism & Critical Media Studies, State University of New York-Buffalo

Nolan Higdon is a history instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area. His academic work focuses on nation-building through propaganda in the US and Latin America. He has worked with Project Censored since 2008, recruiting interns and publishing essays on the relationship between contemporary media and society.

“Offering students the same opportunities Project Censored offered me as a student is what motivates me as a faculty adviser.”

“I teach courses about media history, media criticism, media law and the First Amendment to college students at a smallish liberal arts college in the Midwest. Project Censored’s annual yearbook has been a required text in my annual upper-level media criticism course for over a decade now. The top 25 list and the recurring essays on ‘Junk Food News’ and ‘News Abuse’ provide ample material for our classroom conversations about the institutional biases of the commercial news media, propaganda and censorship. My students find the essays and news summaries engaging and extremely eye-opening. For the past five years, I have given students in the media criticism class the opportunity to research and write up a Validated Independent News Story (or VINS) as one of the course writing assignments; most of them decide to complete the VINS assignment and several of them have told me how much they enjoyed it. Every year, at least one or two stories submitted by my students have been selected for inclusion in the top 25 and all of them who complete the assignment are excited about being able to participate in the work of the Project.”

-Steve Macek, Professor and Chair, Communication and Media Studies, North Central College

Student Testimonials

“Working with Project Censored pushed me to look beyond headlines and corporate sources, and to dig down through independent media to uncover the vital issues we don’t see discussed in the mainstream. Not only have I become a better writer and researcher in my time working with Project Censored, but I have also gained a sharper eye when it comes to interacting with stories and their sources. Project Censored and its staff have given me an understanding of what goes into writing an impactful and credible story, a skill that will remain useful throughout my lifetime.”

-Zachary McNanna, North Central College, ’20

“As a student, Project Censored has given me the unique opportunity to apply my knowledge of media literacy beyond a classroom setting. Writing my VINS summary developed my writing by teaching me to incorporate writing and editing techniques distinct to contemporary journalism. Because Project Censored underscores first-hand student involvement with independent news stories, it has modified my engagement with journalism to incorporate a variety of independent news organizations that report on pressing issues ignored by the hollow mainstream media.”

-Cem Addemir, North Central College

“The VINS assignment was so illuminating. I learned so much during the process of researching and writing my assignment, and I was also able to explore really amazing independent journalism.”

-Shealiegh Voitl, North Central College ’21