Project Censored, a media research program founded by Carl Jensen in 1976, has for a long time drawn attention to stories that mainstream media for one reason or another censor or ignore. The project will publish its 2012 edition this month, highlighting the most censored stories in the last year.
But in the age of boundless information via the Internet, just how useful is such a book?
In an interview with Truthout reporter Mark Karlin, former project director Peter Phillips and current director Mickey Huff explain why disseminating misinformation and propaganda is as relevant as ever. —BF
Truthout:
MK: Journalistically, when a story is literally censored, is it known as being “spiked” by an editor or publisher. How are subjects censored in the modern-day corporate press due to the current “culture of mass media” as compared to actually being “spiked”?
PP: Stories are still deliberately spiked! We call this managed news. And it is quite widespread. On October 25, 2005 the American Civil Liberties (ACLU) posted to their website forty-four autopsy reports, acquired from American military sources, covering the deaths of civilians who died while in US military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2002-2004. The autopsy reports provided proof of widespread torture by US forces. Twenty-three of the reports said the cause of death was homicide. The balance of the reports mostly indicated that the cause of death was heart failure. The conditions of the bodies indicated clearly that these people were tortured to death. A press release by the ACLU announcing the deaths was immediately picked up by Associated Press (AP) wire service making the story available to US corporate media nationwide. A thorough check of Nexis-Lexis and Proquest library data bases showed that at least ninety-nine percent of the daily papers in the US did not pick up the story, nor did AP ever conduct follow up coverage on the issue.
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By 6is9, September 12, 2011 at 12:14 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
What’s important to know today is handwritten. Check the wall.
By the way, to the first commentator, it is at best lazy intellectually to
presume that a person fails to criticize or allow for criticism of Israeli policy
because he is a Jew. Hundreds of thousands of a Jews in Israel would
quickly set you straight about that. It has the same potency of truth as
presuming a non-Jew will be a critic of Isaraeli policy or welcome its
criticism in his presence. If you really want to go down this road then you
should actually go down it. And if you want to take a presumption with you
I’d try the one wherein your Jew is presumed to feel entitled and obligated
to criticize or allow for criticism of Israeli policy. You’ll look smart and feel
better and won’t feel obligated to latch onto any evidence you can possibly
find to hold up as proof that there is validity to beliief in Jewish
conspiracies. No, I think you will find your media failures and omissions in
regard to Israel rooted in the same muck as you see under your excellent
other points.
- First and foremost, anything criticizing anything Israeli. Of course, since Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC Presidents are Jewish, you got to know that is going to happen;
- Second, anything critical about K Street lobbyists controlling Congress and related stories about the need for campaign financing reform, term limits, restructuring of the electoral college, or elimination of it;
- The muting of Ralph Nader or any third party candidate or the threatening of the existing duopoly by the twins, Republicans and Democrats;
- Need for justice served to the Bushites regarding the Iraq conflict, Guantanamo, torture, illegal war contracts, murder committed by US troops or contractors, etc;
- The Downing Street memo;
- Lt Erin Watada’s trials and tribulations and his
‘win’ against the US military;
- The treachery, thievery and greed by the FIRE(Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) industry that got the US into this economic mess. How no one has been hung is beyond me.
By Marian Griffith, September 11, 2011 at 3:08 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
@Michael Cavlan —-Not just of the corporate media but so called “progressive” media as well.—-
It would probably be better if we all gave up the delusion that there are ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ media.
These days -all- media is about profit and people willing to pay money to have their believes confirmed to them. If that group is big enough then there will be newspapers, magazines, talkshows and even entire broadcasters dedicated to give them just that.
The media just -appear- to be left or right because hardly anybody cares to hear about other opinions anymore that even attempting to present a different point of view is strongly opposed. So each bit of ‘news’ is tailored to the group that is going to see or hear it so as not to challenge their comfortable delusion that they are divinely right and the rest of the world is demonically wrong.
Had there been enough people who believed that the world was flat we would be talking about ‘flat earth’ media as opposing to ‘spherical earth’ media. We would be talking about (climate) ‘changer’ and ‘denier’ media if that debate had not been co-opted by the two political parties.
Rather than talking about which nebulous multi-billionaire ‘backs’ which news agency, it is more useful to talk about how the newspapers can be made less dependant on the very people they should be following critically, and how we can get the average american to open up again to be at least willing to listen to different opinions instead of closing him- or herself in little shell of information that all confirms what he or she wishes to be the truth…
I am doing a speech at a rally in St Paul at the Minnesota Capitol tomorrow. The main focus will be censorship and suppression.
Not just of the corporate media but so called “progressive” media as well.
Shhhhhh. Don’t talk about that. Do not put forth the idea that the right are managed by the Koch Brothers and AFP. While the left are managed by George Soros, Goldman Sachs and Moveon.org. In a classic divide and conquor.
I got booted off of Common Dreams for that one.
I have contacted Project Censored on that one. No interest.
Damn. There goes my Truthdigger Of The Week Award again.
Regarding censorship and the lack of transparency in the mainstream media, I would like to take this opportunity to say how much I enjoy and respect the people at Truthdig for bringing us the news that the mainstreamers will not cover for fear of alienating advertisers or government. There has been many times when I’ve read an article in Truthdig that is very illuminating only to see that none of the mainstreamers cover it. Your organization brings to light many issues that need to be covered and that are important to people. Thanks so much, I read you everyday.
Not to minimize the vital importance of this article, but another element of censorship needs emphasis in addition to those methods used by business and government to maintain a stranglehold on information:
We need to be more aware of our own personal blinders which often cause us to ignore or deny
facts that go against what we want to believe.
The most obvious signal that should warn us that our self-inflicted blinders have turned the “On” switch is resentment and anger when one of our trusted beliefs is threatened by substantiated and reliable sources.
Of course “substantiation” and “reliability” have to be well-established (which also requires self-discipline)—but all accurate information comes at the price of one’s personal effort to authenticate its sources.
The reason the Government finds the Wikileaks Cables so threatening is that (unlike “managed news”) they are “too authentic.” Meaning, very difficult to “interpret” “suppress” “use for propaganda purposes” or “turn to our advantage.”) They defy censorship. Therefore, in reaction, authoritarians will do everything possible to discredit them and to punish Assange and Manning. It is crunch-time for Freedom of Information and democracy everywhere.
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By 6is9, September 12, 2011 at 12:14 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
What’s important to know today is handwritten. Check the wall.
By the way, to the first commentator, it is at best lazy intellectually to
Report thispresume that a person fails to criticize or allow for criticism of Israeli policy
because he is a Jew. Hundreds of thousands of a Jews in Israel would
quickly set you straight about that. It has the same potency of truth as
presuming a non-Jew will be a critic of Isaraeli policy or welcome its
criticism in his presence. If you really want to go down this road then you
should actually go down it. And if you want to take a presumption with you
I’d try the one wherein your Jew is presumed to feel entitled and obligated
to criticize or allow for criticism of Israeli policy. You’ll look smart and feel
better and won’t feel obligated to latch onto any evidence you can possibly
find to hold up as proof that there is validity to beliief in Jewish
conspiracies. No, I think you will find your media failures and omissions in
regard to Israel rooted in the same muck as you see under your excellent
other points.
By Basoflakes, September 11, 2011 at 12:38 pm Link to this comment
Stories that I thought were censored:
- First and foremost, anything criticizing anything Israeli. Of course, since Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC Presidents are Jewish, you got to know that is going to happen;
- Second, anything critical about K Street lobbyists controlling Congress and related stories about the need for campaign financing reform, term limits, restructuring of the electoral college, or elimination of it;
- The muting of Ralph Nader or any third party candidate or the threatening of the existing duopoly by the twins, Republicans and Democrats;
- Need for justice served to the Bushites regarding the Iraq conflict, Guantanamo, torture, illegal war contracts, murder committed by US troops or contractors, etc;
- The Downing Street memo;
- Lt Erin Watada’s trials and tribulations and his
‘win’ against the US military;
- The treachery, thievery and greed by the FIRE(Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) industry that got the US into this economic mess. How no one has been hung is beyond me.
.....and so on and so on…..
Report thisBy Marian Griffith, September 11, 2011 at 3:08 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
@Michael Cavlan
—-Not just of the corporate media but so called “progressive” media as well.—-
It would probably be better if we all gave up the delusion that there are ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ media.
These days -all- media is about profit and people willing to pay money to have their believes confirmed to them. If that group is big enough then there will be newspapers, magazines, talkshows and even entire broadcasters dedicated to give them just that.
The media just -appear- to be left or right because hardly anybody cares to hear about other opinions anymore that even attempting to present a different point of view is strongly opposed. So each bit of ‘news’ is tailored to the group that is going to see or hear it so as not to challenge their comfortable delusion that they are divinely right and the rest of the world is demonically wrong.
Had there been enough people who believed that the world was flat we would be talking about ‘flat earth’ media as opposing to ‘spherical earth’ media. We would be talking about (climate) ‘changer’ and ‘denier’ media if that debate had not been co-opted by the two political parties.
Rather than talking about which nebulous multi-billionaire ‘backs’ which news agency, it is more useful to talk about how the newspapers can be made less dependant on the very people they should be following critically, and how we can get the average american to open up again to be at least willing to listen to different opinions instead of closing him- or herself in little shell of information that all confirms what he or she wishes to be the truth…
Report thisBy Michael Cavlan RN, September 10, 2011 at 9:50 pm Link to this comment
Oh my dear God. This is rich.
I am doing a speech at a rally in St Paul at the Minnesota Capitol tomorrow. The main focus will be censorship and suppression.
Not just of the corporate media but so called “progressive” media as well.
Shhhhhh. Don’t talk about that. Do not put forth the idea that the right are managed by the Koch Brothers and AFP. While the left are managed by George Soros, Goldman Sachs and Moveon.org. In a classic divide and conquor.
I got booted off of Common Dreams for that one.
I have contacted Project Censored on that one. No interest.
Damn. There goes my Truthdigger Of The Week Award again.
To much truth being dug up I suppose.
Report thisBy bpawk, September 10, 2011 at 2:58 pm Link to this comment
Regarding censorship and the lack of transparency in the mainstream media, I would like to take this opportunity to say how much I enjoy and respect the people at Truthdig for bringing us the news that the mainstreamers will not cover for fear of alienating advertisers or government. There has been many times when I’ve read an article in Truthdig that is very illuminating only to see that none of the mainstreamers cover it. Your organization brings to light many issues that need to be covered and that are important to people. Thanks so much, I read you everyday.
Report thisBy gerard, September 10, 2011 at 11:34 am Link to this comment
Not to minimize the vital importance of this article, but another element of censorship needs emphasis in addition to those methods used by business and government to maintain a stranglehold on information:
We need to be more aware of our own personal blinders which often cause us to ignore or deny
facts that go against what we want to believe.
The most obvious signal that should warn us that our self-inflicted blinders have turned the “On” switch is resentment and anger when one of our trusted beliefs is threatened by substantiated and reliable sources.
Of course “substantiation” and “reliability” have to be well-established (which also requires self-discipline)—but all accurate information comes at the price of one’s personal effort to authenticate its sources.
The reason the Government finds the Wikileaks Cables so threatening is that (unlike “managed news”) they are “too authentic.” Meaning, very difficult to “interpret” “suppress” “use for propaganda purposes” or “turn to our advantage.”) They defy censorship. Therefore, in reaction, authoritarians will do everything possible to discredit them and to punish Assange and Manning. It is crunch-time for Freedom of Information and democracy everywhere.
Report this