Censored 2003

Peter Phillips, Editor

Is censorship alive and well in America? Project Censored’s annual volume aims to answer that question.

Censored 2002/03 highlights the twenty-five most important underreported news stories over the past year and a half, alerting readers to the deficiencies in corporate media.

In addition to the familiar sections "Junk Food News" and "Déjà Vu," this year’s edition has undergone a full revamp to take a more active role in exposing censored stories. More of a how-to-do-media manual than in previous years, Censored 2002/03 will include a full resource guide and updates on independent media to help readers take part in grassroots efforts to strengthen the media and democracy movement.

Review by Paul Lappen (250603) Rating (9/10)

Review 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. Among the requirements are that the story must contain information that the American people have a need to know, it must be backed up with solid documentation and that it must have been previously published, either electronically or in print.

During Gulf War I, America deliberately destroyed Iraq's water system, causing the deaths of thousands of people, and did not allow importation of equipment to fix it. Convicted criminals, like Otto Reich, Elliot Abrams and John Poindexter now hold senior jobs in the Bush Administration. NAFTA has destroyed farming communities in America and abroad. New laws are restricting access to abortions here 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 bailed out by the federal government. Hear about these on the "all-news" channels?

The book also considers those stories which were covered in the media. Stories like that of Rosie O'Donnell's sexuality, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Mariah Carey's nervous breakdown, 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, 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 resources.

This is another excellent book from the people at Project Censored. It is 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 publicised from coast to coast.
Paul Lappen (25th June 2003)