The present review was contributed by:
PAUL LAPPEN
Based at Sonoma State University in California,
Project Censored is a program that yearly chooses the
top 25 most underreported news stories in America. A
national panel of judges whittles a list of more than
700 nominated stories down to those that are
summarized here. The stories must contain information
that the American population has a right to know, it
has implications for people in America, it must be
backed up with solid documentation and it must have
been previously published, either electronically or in
print.
During Gulf War I, America deliberately destroyed
Iraq's water system, killing thousands of people, and
did not allow importation of equipment to fix it.
Convicted criminals hold senior positions in the Bush
Administration. NAFTA destroys farming communities in
the US and abroad. New laws restrict access to
abortion in America. The Bush energy plan threatens
public health and the environment. American policies
in Colombia support mass murder. The Bush
Administration hampered an FBI investigation into the
Bin Laden family before 9/11. Failing private prisons
are being bailed out by the federal government. Hear
about any of these on the ""all-news"" channels?
The book also considers those stories which were
covered on TV and in the newspapers. Stories like that
of Rosie O'Donnell's sexuality, Tom Cruise and Nicole
Kidman, Mariah Carey's fall from sanity, the private
lives of Prince Charles and his sons and the
relationship between Britney Spears and Justin
Timberlake very much deserve to be called Junk Food
News.
Also explored is a critical analysis of 9/11, both
before and after, how New York State exams censored
literature, the big ten media giants, the rigors of
self-censorship and a guide to independent media
sources.
This is another excellent book from the people at
Project Censored. It's required reading for everyone
in the news business; I never fail to learn something
from each volume. In an ideal world, the stories in
this book are the ones that would be publicized from
coast to coast.